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 editorial
EDITOR
Alan Sircom
Email: editor@hifiplus.com

CONTRIBUTORS THIS
ISSUE INCLUDE:
Branko Bozic
Dennis D Davis
Steve Dickinson
Kevin Fiske
Sean Hannam
Jimmy Hughes

E
Jason Kennedy very few years, the same tale is told, just with a slightly
Simon Lucas
different spin. This year, it came from yet another team
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Jenny Watson of neuroscientists; the secret to happiness, it seems,
Fonthill Creative, Salisbury
is to set low expectations. Those who set themselves
ADVERTISING MANAGER
Tom Hackforth lofty goals are rarely fully satisfied, and those who set
Tel: +44 (0)1425 655255
Email: tom@hifiplus.com their sights to more attainable and realistic aspirations are more
PUBLISHER likely to have longer, happier and more fulfilling lives. This doesn’t
Pete Collingwood-Trewin
Tel: +44 (0)1425 655699
Email: pete@hifiplus.com
sit right with the pursuit of musical excellence, but might explain the

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ever-shifting sands of ‘audiophilia nervosa’.
Let’s be honest here; it’s in the very
nature of enthusiasm to have at least
one eye on the next big thing in your
hobby, be it that high-tech derailleur,
the next ‘must have’ camera lens, or
the latest kitchen gizmo. And there is
nothing wrong with a spot of aspirational
dreaming; even if you’ll never own that
new Ferrari, it’s part of the dream and
there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with
that at all.
However, the notion of setting lower
expectatons is also worth exploring. We
all know people who have become so
absorbed by their hobby and passion
that they become obsessed by it and
the last 18 months haven’t helped such
conditions. In the audio world, while
Mr. ‘£50,000 worth of cables and three
recordings’ is more myth than reality,
we all know people who are perpetually
restless, always changing something in
their system and never quite happy with
how it sounds. Some even spend less
time listening to music, and more time
tweaking their system to make it sound
as good as it’s possible to get. The
satisfaction of sitting back and listening
to an album becomes impossible.
ISSUE 198 ON SALE AUGUST 5 2021 (UK) SEPTEMBER 9 2021 (US)
In such cases, saying ‘set your
standards lower’ is about as worthless as
telling someone with an anxiety disorder
to ‘pull yourself together.’ The usual
advice for audio obsessives is to step
away from the audio system for a while,
but I am not convinced this is merely a
delay tactic, and the issue will return.
It’s going to sound controversial
but perhaps, the secret is to have an
easy side-project. I used to live near
an amateur car-restorer who got so
obsessed by rebuilding the pefect
MGB, the project came to a halt as he
spiralled on the minutiae. His way out of
that quicksand of his own making? He
bought a low-maintenance runabout to
enjoy driving again. It worked, and the
MGB was finished to a high – but not
crazily high – standard soon after.
Who knows? Maybe a small, easy
second system everyone can enjoy is
your way out of audio obsessiveness.
Alan Sircom
editor hifiplus.com

1 ISSUE 197
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 contents ISSUE 197

EQUIPMENT+
COMMENT REVIEWS
7 INCOMING!
Your views on all
things audio
11 NAIM AUDIO SOLSTICE
complete turntable, arm, cartridge
and phono stage system

89 MEET YOUR MAKER

Gabi and Edwin Rynveld
of Crystal Cable and
21 FINKTEAM KIM
stand-mount loudspeaker

Siltech
28 KROMA AUDIO MIMI
stand-mount loudspeaker

MUSIC 33 TECHNICS REFERENCE CLASS

SU-R1000
integrated amplifier

97 HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH

CLASSICAL MUSIC PART 2
A beginner’s guide to 41 MODWRIGHT KWH 225I
integrated amplifier
classical box sets!

101 JOHN MURRY

American singer-songwriter,
47 KEF LS50 META
stand-mount loudspeaker

now living in Ireland!

53 SENNHEISER IE 900
universal fit in-ear monitors

111 CONTEMPORARY, CLASSICAL

AND AUDIOPHILE MUSIC
59 ANSUZ ACOUSTICS D2 SERIES
cables, power conditioner, star
earthing and network switch

65 McINTOSH MHA 200

headphone amplifier

71 MONOPULSE TYPE SA
active floorstanding loudspeaker

103 COMPETITION!
77 QUIESCENT APEX 40/PEAK SPEAKER
MODULES
microphony couplers
Dan Clark Audio Æon 2
Noire headphones worth
£899 must be won! 83 AUDIOQUEST PEARL 48, CARBON 48,
DRAGON 48
HDMI cables
107 BACK ISSUES

108 SUBSCRIPTIONS 87 NEEDERLAND TRUESTAND

headphone stand

119 ADVERTISER INDEX

120 NEXT ISSUE

Find out what’s
happening next time!

3 ISSUE 197
Please send your letters to Hi-Fi+, Unit 3, Sandleheath Industrial Estate,
Sandleheath, Hampshire, SP6 1PA, United Kingdom.
Or email them to editor@hifiplus.com

incoming!
in association with

LETTER OF THE MONTH WINS A DRAGONFLY BLACK

Both AudioQuest and Hi-Fi+ are passionate about music and the sound it
makes. We know what makes a good audio experience, and we know what
makes it better. Most modern audio equipment is good, but with the right
attitude, right advice, and the right components, the sound it delivers can move
from ‘good’ to ‘great’ to ‘fantastic’. AudioQuest has to deal with a lot of queries
regarding audio systems, because almost everything in an audio system is
connected with a cable. The company has amassed a wealth of information on
a range of topics in audio, both in general terms and with a team comprising
keen, specialist audio experts willing to impart their expertise.

Which is why we’ve teamed up with the good folks at AudioQuest to award the
letter of the month a free AudioQuest Dragonfly Black headphone amp/DAC.

Tube, or not tube... that is the question

I’m writing this during a brief heatwave in the UK so it’s probably entirely This applies just as much to the
the wrong time to be thinking about this, but what are the benefits of input stages of a preamplifier as it does
valves or tubes, especially in devices like DACs! to the output stages of a DAC. And while
My take on this is they are outmoded devices adored by people who in the past, a valve-based output stage
like a spot of ‘retro’ in their lives, but have no real place in a modern audio could be made to smooth out some of
system. I can understand why guitarists love them for their distortion, but the brightness of poorer quality digital
surely if we are attempting to eliminate distortion in audio, then opting for conversion, generally those making digital
something that inherently adds distortion is a bad thing. converters with tube output stages are
However, I’m keen on getting the best possible sound in my system, aiming for a best of both worlds DAC,
and my local dealer has no valve products and no interest in valves. with both good digital performance, fed
Should I cast my net further afield and try a valve-based system? through an output stage that delivers an
Mike Harris, via email extremely linear, impedance matched
output that sounds outstanding.
This is almost two questions in one, but they are related. Just to explain, Is trying a valve/tube amplifier or
the first is whether or not valves (or tubes) have a place in a modern DAC worth it? Absolutely! Is it worth
system, or if their inclusion is – as you say – just ‘retro’. The second is undermining a good working relationship
whether it’s worth potentially severing a working relationship with a nearby with a nearby dealer? Perhaps less so.
dealer in order to find musical satisfaction at a greater distance. Think of it this way: ‘twas the night before
Speaking personally, I’ve had an ‘on again, off again’ relationship with Christmas, when all through the house,
valve amplification. While there are some low-power amplifier systems not a creature was stirring... because
that are derived from 1930s cinema amps that have several orders your input triode tube just burned out.
of magnitude more harmonic distortion than any modern solid-state Your local dealer should be on hand to
amplifier, that distortion spectrum tends to be in even-order harmonics, repair, replace, or even loan. Will the new
which tend to be inaudible or at most add some ‘richness’ to the sound. guy on the other side of the country do
While you are correct in saying that goes somewhat against the notion of the same?
‘high fidelity’, many tube amps err on the side of good sound. Robert Hay, AudioQuest
 INCOMING
In defence of systems features
Dear ‘Angry’ (‘System features? No
thanks!’, Incoming, Issue 196). Wow, just
wow. I am not sure where to begin. Is this a
wind up email or is it what you truly believe?
If you are a Libertarian as you claim then
why do you want to have people only do
reviews in a manner that you prescribe?
I thought you would be against control on
what reviewers are allowed to review.
Anyway you are entitled to your
opinions even if I disagree with them and
your premise and your logic and your
manners.
How do you listen to your high-end
audio equipment? Do you listen to each
piece individually or together as a system?
If it is the latter what exactly is wrong with
reviewers reviewing a whole system. In
reality even if a reviewer is testing a specific
piece of equipment it is rarely in isolation
and will be part of their system or indeed
systems. How is that so different?
Also you seem to have decided that
you alone know what constitutes high-end
audio and what does not.
For example only ‘reasonably’ efficient
speakers can be high-end and high
efficiency speakers ‘require’ to be powered
by SET amps. I utterly refute your premise
on both these points. I could pick out many
more issues you have raised but I can’t be
bothered as I have more music to listen to.
In conclusion, I welcome the inclusion
of system reviews and believe they add to
the process of deciding what your choices
might be and encourage the review team to
include more of these.
Ian Melville, via email
The email I received surprised me with its
vitriol directed toward a more systemic
approach to audio reviewing. I will respect the author’s desire for anonymity,
but I guess if I were going to pen something almost deliberately contentious,
I might desire a spot of anonymity too; audio enthusiasts haven’t had many
opportunities to meet up at shows recently, and the last thing you’d want is
to rock up at a post-pandemic show only to be frog-marched out again by
the angry mob.
That being said, I can see a kernel of truth in what was said. There is
a risk of ‘type-casting’; if product X is demonstrated with brands Y and Z
too often, there’s a tendency to think product X ‘only’ works with Y and Z;
this is ultimately self-defeating. Maybe a more balanced approach is to
discuss systems when appropriate; such as you describe, when trying to
find appropriate loudspeakers for high-efficency systems and low-power
SET amps. – Ed
Loudspeaker Line of Duty
I have been sipping gently at the Devil’s cup of hi-fi from my early teens.
However, I always felt there was a Grand Canyon-like gulf between the
sound quality of red book CD and SACD playback.
Then one day, I happened to be passing my local hi-fi store, when I
asked, “How can I get my CDs sounding closer to SACD quality sound?”
A few minutes later, I was listening to top-tier streaming for the very first time.
I sat there transfixed for several hours, vowing to one day replicate not just
that sound, but more importantly that ‘emotion’ it extracted from the music.
That was seven years ago.
I started out by buying speakers at the top of my price range, B&W
803D2. They are still my speakers of choice to this very day. However, I am
also on my third amp and my third streamer. I’ve changed everything several
times. My system always sounded impressive but I had not fully replicated
that original experience, so on to my next upgrade on the journey: I swapped
single-wired Tellurium Q Ultra Black for Ultra Black 2 bi-wired speaker cables.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey… I now believe in
miracles.
From that very first listen, everything was right with the world. The sound
was mesmeric but most importantly that elusive ‘emotion’ was washing
through my whole body. That was a year ago, and still remains my last
serious equipment purchase. Every day since I have luxuriated in the glorious
sound, never longing to return to a sense of ‘listening to improve’; I was now
listening to enjoy, all the time.
Kevin Eyles, via email
I’m pleased you have reached some equanimity in your system, and nice use
of a Ted Hastings quote too. – Ed
8 ISSUE 197
ESSENCE
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The Gryphon Essence Mono & Stereo Power Amplifier

The Gryphon Essence Preamplifier

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EQUIPMENT REVIEW
Naim Audio Solstice
turntable system
t’s a little strange that for all its importance in vinyl replay
I over its first 48 years as a manufacturer, Naim Audio has
never made a turntable. Sure, there have been power
supplies, phono stages, and even the Aro tonearm, and
yes… a heavily modified turntable or two were bounced
around the Salisbury-based company’s ‘skunkworks’. But
a company that was one of the two defining vinyl brands
for more than a generation of music lovers never made a
turntable; until the Summer of 2021.
Solstice is that first complete turntable from Naim Audio,
a 500 turntable run special edition turn-key package launched
– as befits the name – on the Summer Solstice (Naim’s
Salisbury HQ is precisely 2.5 metric Druids from Stonehenge,
and sometimes that rubs off in moments of uncontrollable tie-
dye). This really is turn-key – the turntable is supplied with
arm and cartridge fitted, and the power supply feeds both
the turntable and a separate phono stage, all of which come
11
by Alan Sircom
in a series of quality boxes that give the product the look
and feel of something special right from the moment of box-
opening. The Solstice is also supplied with an album from
Naim’s own label, although that wasn’t supplied at the time
of review. The paradox, however, is a lot of this case-candy is
going to be experienced at first by the installer; Solstice is only
sold through Naim’s most tippity-top dealers (which perhaps
explains why it’s in white on black ‘Statement’ livery) who have
to install it as part of the package. However, for the most part
the installation process is refreshingly free from PhD grade
installation demands; fitting the platter on the magnetically
levitating bearing while keeping the belt in place has a bit of a
knack to it, but otherwise it’s more about keeping the turntable
level and making sure the cables are well-dressed and
destressed. Your only options with Solstice out of the box are
the choice of cable from the phono stage to the preamplifier
and which sort of equipment stand to use. Naim recommends
ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / NAIM AUDIO SOLSTICE
“Those expecting half-turntable, half bouncy castle are likely to be
surprised by Naim’s choice for the Solstice.”
its own Super Lumina cables, which were supplied, used,
and proved a good match… natch. Also, one of the design
criteria Naim imposed on the Solstice is that it should be able
to fit on a Naim Fraim stand. This means while the platter
sits relatively tall and the plinth relatively low (‘relative’ in this
case comparing it to the brand of turntable that was at least
once commonly associated with Naim systems!), the footprint
of the turntable will not challenge standard sized equipment
supports (it fitted on a Quadraspire without a problem) and the
two off-board units (PSU and phono stage) could sit side-by-
side on a single shelf.
In the past, turntables associated with Naim systems
have tended to be suspended designs, so it might come
as some surprise that its first complete turntable eschews a
suspension and goes more down the high-mass route. Well…
not quite. The use of a floating magnetic bearing is a sort of
best of both worlds option, combining the temporal precision
and quicksilver leading-edge definition of a bouncy deck with
the more stentorian bass depth and dynamic range of the
more ‘hewn from solid’ designs. While these are sweeping
generalisations, they have more than a grain of truth behind
them, and similarly the few floating bearing designs I’ve heard
seem to have that ideal-option performance underpinning the
12
sound. Still, those expecting half-turntable, half bouncy castle
are likely to be surprised by Naim’s choice for the Solstice, and
just as likely to be surprised by its performance.
The turntable itself is made in Germany by Clearaudio.
Given that Naim’s Salisbury shop floor is given over to building
electronics, retasking that production to make turntables is
unnecessary and would hold up production of its electronics
line. So, handing turntable production over to a company
like Clearaudio effectively delivers the ideal combination of
resources and specialisms to make the Solstice. However,
after almost half a century of not making turntables, Naim
isn’t going to settle for an off-the-shelf design; Naim’s design
input is stamped right through the Solstice from the outset
and there has been a lot of prototyping and works in progress
moving between Wiltshire and Bavaria. This is no mean feat
given the privations of the last year and a half. This could have
gone one of two ways; both companies insisting on their own
‘magic bullet’ and ending up with something that is almost,
but not quite, entirely unlike ‘good’, or the two companies
could work together to produce something really outstanding.
As is the case here.
Yes, there were some cross-continent head-scratchy
moments; allegedly, the magnetic bearing so beloved by
ISSUE 197
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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / NAIM AUDIO SOLSTICE
“It took longer to write this sentence than it took for the Solstice to make
its mark; a foot tappin’, gormless smilin’, music lovin’ mark.”
Clearaudio was not as high a priority at Naim, and Clearaudio
was initially sceptical of the impact of the Discrete Regulator
based power supply. But in both cases, the ‘technical’ and
‘theoretical’ were resolved in the ‘practical’ of listening, even
down to which side of the mat sounds best!
Of course, the part that will draw Naim aficionado’s
attention most is that tonearm. And those people are already
hopping from foot to foot asking three obvious questions. And
the answers to those questions are ‘yes, it really is an Aro’,
‘no, it isn’t available separately’, and, ‘hopefully a new stand-
alone Aro will follow’. The differences between this arm and
the original Aro is that it has a proper (as in, not an after-the-
event Aro-matic) lift-lower system with built-in arm rest, an on-
the-fly VTA adjustment that I seriously doubt anyone will use,
and a carbon-fibre arm-tube; the original would have had the
same, were neatly engineered carbon-fibre widely available
and even remotely affordable in the late 1980s… such is the
progress of material science in the intervening decades.
There is a fourth question that would be asked by
existing Aro owners, and the answer to that is ‘yes’… it has
a slotted headshell; the original Aro had three small holes in
the headshell, designed to fit the Linn Troika cartridge, and
if your cartridge wasn’t a Troika and had a different distance
between mounting holes and stylus tip, alignment was
more luck than judgment. While the supplied Naim Equinox
moving coil cartridge (also made by Clearaudio) has three
mounting points – making alignment relatively easy and adds
to rigidity of contact – should you wish to move beyond the
Equinox cartridge at some point, the arm now allows greater
adjustment at last. This sounds trivial, but was in fact quite
a feat of engineering, because the design of the original
Aro headshell would lose some structural integrity if slotted
and making a similar headshell without compromising in
performance or ‘aro-ness’ would be difficult.
While Solstice is considered a turn-key device, that it
allows future changes in cartridge would be of little benefit
if the phono stage itself was locked into the parameters of
the Equinox alone. Fortunately, the Solstice phono stage has
a range of cartridge loading options on its back panel. This
is something of a nerve-centre for the Solstice system, as
the rear panel also provides options on logo brightness and
standby options. It also provides options for DIN output (Naim
14
has traditionally used locking DIN connectors over phono as
a preference… even of those in the know tend to use these
DIN connectors unlocked, for similar reasons to the floating
connections in the company’s power cords).
The only strange part of the operation is there is a top-
mounted power switch on both the turntable and the power
supply, which perform the same function. This causes some
consternation when mildly ‘refreshed’ as you press one button
to turn it off, press the other (because you are being the
inebriated version of ‘diligent’) and it turns back on! The deck
spins up from a standing start to 33 or 45 relatively quickly; not
‘direct-drive’ quickly, but also not as glacially slow as some of
the very high-mass designs.
While it’s likely that many Solstice systems will go
into Naim systems, I consciously wanted to place this in a
wider context. Placing the front-end package into a system
comprising Burmester 068 preamp and 911 power amplifier
into a pair of Wilson Audio Duette 2 on Townshend platforms,
eventually settling on Nordost Odin 2 cable throughout (except
for the aforementioned Super Lumina) is almost as un-Naim as
it gets. Would it sound good in context or is it designed simply
to slot into Naim systems? Would it put a smile on my face or
leave the sound cold?
Normally such questions might take a day or so to
answer, but the Solstice responded instantly. Granted this
was one of the first samples and had been thoroughly run
in, but it took longer to write this sentence than it took for the
Solstice to make its mark; a foot-tappin’, gormless smilin’,
music lovin’ mark. Right from the moment Lana Del Ray
intones “Goddamn, man child!” at the start of ‘Norman f***ing
Rockwell’ [NFR, Polydor/Interscope], I knew this was going
to be something special. The way the vocals had excellent
presence and focus, but backed by instruments that both
existed in their own vivid, visceral dimensional ‘space’ and
integrated with the music as a cohesive whole is so very Naim
Audio and so hard to find in wider circles.
Better yet, the more I listened, the more I liked it. This
coincided with one of the few heatwaves the UK gets, and
that at a time of unlocking after COVID, so if ever there was a
time where a record player would sit around getting minimal
use, it was this. And yet, I couldn’t help myself; out came
records from the back of the collection, such as Nic Jones
ISSUE 197
 (R)Evolution

“Sometimes products really are simply better

– a lot better. This is one of those times.”
Roy Gregory, Hi-Fi+ Issue 194

Setting a whole new standard for audio amplification

– the new CH Precision 10 Series

For a dealer or distributor near you:

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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / NAIM AUDIO SOLSTICE
“Here, you get the impressive recording, but you also always get the sense
of a musician playing with great skill and passion.”
Penguin Eggs [Tropic/Three Black Feathers]. ‘Canadee-I-O’ is
a fine bit of fingerstyle acoustic guitar picking that is supremely
well recorded and Jones deserves to be thought of alongside
of Bert Jansch and Richard Thompson on the basis of this
record. It’s one of those tracks that always sounds good, but
rarely sounds great because the intent of Jones is subsumed
by the impressive recording. Here, you get the impressive
recording, but you also always get the sense of a musician
playing with great skill and passion.
In a way, the Solstice isn’t something that unveils endless
amounts of new information off the groove (although the
turntable’s overall performance is extremely detailed); it’s how
it ties everything together so well and makes that sound natural
and entertaining. All the elements that contribute to good sound
(dynamic range, good stereo soundstaging, etc) are there and
represented well, but the same could be said of almost any
decent turntable. The combination of turntable, arm, cartridge
and phono stage is well developed, and the individual products
work in harmony (as much as it’s possible to check given there
are limited swappable options at this time), but so do many
well-assembled turntable packages. What the Solstice does
so well, however, is render all that academic. Most other decks
you experience or enjoy; this one helps you enjoy the music, all
else is at best a secondary concern.
The arm in particular is a joy to use, retaining all the easy
‘plonk it on the record and play the thing’ nature of the older
arm, but with just enough of a lift/lower to make cueing up a
record possible. Looking into the past, some of the limitations
addressed at the Aro of its time (I used one in the 1990s; it
was great, but a little rolled off top and bottom, it errs on the
16
‘easy on the ears’ side of things, and it doesn’t take well to
complex layered classical music) are either simply not an issue
or are reduced to near-total inaudibility. Yes, the Aro’s mid-
bass bloom (which gave music its characteristic ‘bounce’) is
still around in vestigial terms, but it only serves to make the
sound more beat-oriented and exciting, and doesn’t detract
from music above or below that region. Like all good audio,
the Solstice is focused on making music sound entertaining
as well as accurate. Those who like their music more like
a science experiment than something to enjoy might find
comfort in other front-ends, but the rest of us are playing to a
very different equation, and enjoying the coefficient of rhythm.
There’s a phrase I’ve been holding onto with many
Naim reviews, waiting for the one product where it is truly
appropriate… and I am pretty sure the Solstice is that product.
This turntable is just so ‘Julian Vereker’. This is not just a pithy
statement… just ask Naim’s Technical Director Emeritus, Roy
George, who came out of retirement to work on the Solstice
Special Edition project; “I started working for Naim in 1985
and immediately began working with Julian and the team
to optimise the performance from vinyl, using our favourite
turntables at the time; either Linn or Phonosophie. We
developed several modifications, including detailed mechanical
changes, motor power supplies and phono stages, to extract
the best from vinyl replay. Not all these advances made it to
market – though they certainly got a lot of use in our personal
systems! – but they all helped maximise the music source to
enable the design of better pre and power amplifiers. I still
often think about Julian, and how he would have regarded
the products we have designed since he died. I was a Naim
ISSUE 197
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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / NAIM AUDIO SOLSTICE

customer for 11 years before I joined the company, so I’m

well and truly steeped in the Naim vision. I believe he would TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
have very much approved of the engineering solutions and Type: Turntable system
final performance of the Solstice Special Edition.” NVS TT turntable
Solstice has got that combination of drive, excitement, Plinth: 47 wooden layers, metal skinned
foot-tapping energy, dynamic punch. Sure, it’s more even- Decoupling: arm and bearing island
handed as befits the more 21st Century approach to music Bearing/Platter: Magnetic bearing, high-mass platter
replay and also the way Naim sounds today… but it’s also got Speeds: 33.33rpm, 45rpm
that ‘put a smile on your face’ love of music that permeated Motor type: High torque, 24V DC brushless motor
really well thought-through ‘chrome bumper’ Naim products Motor Control: Optical feedback
of yore. Which fits the only sadness I feel about the Solstice; Dimensions (H×W×D): 182 × 420 × 358mm
those who are no longer around who would have absolutely Weight: 25.4kg
loved the deck. Listening to the Solstice makes me think ARO unipivot tonearm
about the late Malcolm Steward shoe-horning in a pair of SBL Arm height and azimuth adjustment: Yes!
loudspeakers into a room only slightly larger than the boxes Tonearm connection: 5 pin mini DIN
in which they were packed, and playing Gregson & Collister Equinox moving coil cartridge
and Richard Thompson albums at ‘Def Con 1’ levels on his Output voltage: 0.4mV
Pink Linnk’s, Aro’d up LP12. Malcolm would have adored this Impedance: 11
turntable and its sound. So, perhaps it’s fitting that one of Recommended MC input values: 100 , 1000p , high gain
the last records I played on the Solstice was one I remember Weight: 8g
playing at his place decades ago; ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ by The NVC TT Phono stage
Velvet Underground [Verve]. The fragile nature of this song (just Input: phono (MM, MC), earth tag
Lou Reed’s voice with a very simple backing) is deceptively Output: Stereo RCA, 5 pin DIN, 8 pin DIN
difficult to do well, but when it’s right… it simply stops you RIAA accuracy: ±0.1dB
in your tracks. That’s what the Naim Solstice can do so well. IEC cut (Partial): -2dB at 20Hz and –3dB at 14Hz
Personal weltschmerz aside, there are few downsides Gain: 42dB (MM), 61dB (MC, low gain), 67dB (MC, high
to this system as a complete package, save for it being a gain)
complete package. While you could theoretically swap out S/N ratio: 83dB (MM), 84dB (MC)
either the cartridge or the phono stage, there is no provision for THD+N: <0.005%
doing so when specifying the Solstice. As I can’t help feeling Crosstalk: >75dB
that the Solstice isn’t going to be many people’s first LP rodeo, Max output signal: 8Vrms
I can envisage some mild gnashing of teeth among those who Loading: 47k /100p (MM), 1000 , 600 , 430 , 330 ,
want to upgrade parts of the LP replay system instead of the 250 , 215 , 185 ,165 ,150 , 140 , 125 , 115 ,
whole caboodle. In fairness though, the package itself is so 105 , 100 , 90 , 85 , 100p , 400p , 700p , 1000p ,
damn good in and of itself, I think that downside is a bit of a 1300p , 1600p , 1900p , 2200p , 2500p , 2700p ,
‘reach’; in reality, after about five minutes in the presence of the 3100p , 3400p , 3700p , 4000p , 4300p , 4600p (MC)
Solstice you will be too busy tapping in your credit card’s PIN Dimensions (H×W×D): 70mm × 214mm × 329mm
number to think about what’s presently sitting on your shelves. Weight: 3.4kg
Otherwise, for cat-related reasons, I’d like a lid… that’s it! NPX TT Power Supply
In a way, what buoys me most about Solstice is the Standby consumption: <0.5W
potential it holds. It’s a great turntable package and I hope Dimensions (H×W×D): 70mm × 214mm × 329mm
Solstice isn’t a ‘one off’, but instead the first of a series of Weight: 5.6kg
vinyl-related components that add a high-performance Naim Price: £16,000
LP source component to a wider range of price points. I would
love to see a Naim turntable that sits alongside a Supernait Manufacturer: Naim Audio
in price and performance, for example. If the Solstice is the URL: naimaudio.com
launch pad for such a range of devices, 2021 might just turn Tel: +44(0)1722 426600
out to be one hell of a summertime!

18 ISSUE 197
 30th ANNIVERSARY 1991–2021
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Vitus SIA025 mkI £8,500 Naim Headline & NAPSC psu £350 Kuzma Stabi R- 1 Wing Spade/Spade £550 Estelon XA £16,990
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Bel Canto EVO 6 Gen III £1,990 Clrearaudio Balanced Reference Spade/Banana £750 Entreq Silver CleanUs £1,450
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B.M.C. Audio M3 Monoblocks £7,990 Phono Stage £1,990 Nordost Frey Tone-arm Lead £350 Townshend Audio Maximum Entreq Eartha Apollo 3.5mm to
Audio Research Reference MIT Cables Matrix HD12, Supertweeters £990 Spade Ground Cable £270
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75se £5,500 1m RCA Interconnect £390 Tannoy Canterbury GR (OW) £23,990 Entreq Challenger 3V PowerUs
Audio Note M2 Phono £2,950 (6-US Outlets) & (4-Schuko
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PRE AMPLIFIERS Technics SP10 mkII/ Obsidian Plinth & (1.65m) £4,500 STANDS, SUPPORTS &
SH-10E Power Supply £2,990 Proac D38R £2,990 ISOLATION
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Line Pre-Amplifier £12,990 Stillpoints LPI Record Isolator £450 (3.7m pair) £7,500 Nola Viper Reference II £6,500 VertexAQ Leading Edge
Tom Evans The Vibe & SME Model 30/2 £16,500 Entreq Atlantis Speaker Cable Martin Logan Summit £3,490 Platform & 3 Cones £750
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

FinkTeam Kim stand-mount

loudspeaker
by Steve Dickinson

S
o, there I was, squirming, while Charlie Haden
and John Taylor played ‘Song for the Whales’
from Nightfall [Naim]. Not squirming for the
reasons you might expect, perhaps: this was not
a squirm of embarrassment or awkwardness,
this was a squirm of discomfort caused by the fact that my
last cups of coffee had recently hit my bladder and were intent
on escape. But the music was so utterly compelling, the
event so captivating, that mere corporeal considerations
had to wait, and this moment just couldn’t be interrupted.
So the FinkTeam Kims got off to a promising start
despite their somewhat unconventional looks, and
quirky name (it’s a Star Trek genre thing). The thing is,
there have been systems which can make me squirm
with awkwardness on this track, because as a piece
of music it can be a bit challenging and some systems
just fail to communicate, collapsing into a mess of
what can easily come across as self-indulgence. But
there I was, transfixed, as Charlie Haden coaxed the
most extraordinarily evocative sounds from his double
bass; I don’t think I have ever heard his attempts to
conjure whale song, and the unfamiliar world it arises
from, portrayed with such sensitivity. As a piece of music,
it’s not difficult to dismiss this as a simple piano melody,
bookending some vaguely whale-y and rather pretentious
noodling from the bass. Quite a lot of loudspeakers permit
you to do just that; and even those that give you all the
tonal depth and colour so you appreciate the attempt, rarely
show you the sensitivity and musicianship that gripped me
in this moment. It’s not just the evocation of the sound of
whalesong, somehow Haden evokes a wistful empathy for
these magnificent creatures from his bass, too, and that
realisation was what kept me in my seat despite a pressing
need to be somewhere else.
I’ve heard this track rendered convincingly by other
loudspeakers, notably the Kudos Titan 707s I reviewed
recently, but usually it’s the tonal colour, the shading and
the realism of the instrument that gets all the attention. Here,

21 ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / FINKTEAM KIM
“A sort of halfway house between a stand-mount and a floorstander in
that the stand is integral.”
all those things were ably served, but with added layers of
sensitivity, musicianship, and sheer awe-inspiring technique.
And that’s what’s so remarkable about the FinkTeam Kims, the
way they not only give you the wideband tonal experience, but
they get right into the heart of the music, and the performance.
At almost £9,000 for a pair they’re operating in rarified territory
for what are, conceptually, standmounting loudspeakers; but
actually they perform in many ways more like floorstanding
designs, so comparison with other standmounters is perhaps
a little specious anyway. What we have here doesn’t seem
to fit many of the conventional niches we’ve become
accustomed to.
The FinkTeam seems to have got into making a range of
loudspeakers almost by accident. As a business, Karl-Heinz
Fink heads up a team of specialists who act as technical
consultants to other loudspeaker makers. They didn’t set out
to design a range of speakers so much as explore the art
of the possible. One thing led to another, which led to the
flagship WM-4 model, then the (£25,900) Borg floorstander,
and now the Kim, a sort of halfway house between a stand-
mounter and a floorstander in that the stand is integral, and
there’s no way this model was ever going to fit on a bookshelf
anyway. The cabinet size and proportions calls to mind the
classic large BBC monitors of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and is rather
different to the slimline designs we mostly see nowadays. The
backwards-leaning stance reminds me more of a certain Star
Wars droid than a Star Trek character, though. The external
dimensions suggest a cabinet volume of around 45 litres. In
reality it’s smaller because some interior space is given over
to Helmholtz resonators and other technology, the better to
control cabinet resonance and associated unwanted output,
but the overall cabinet volume is still broadly comparable to
many a respectable floorstanding design.
Large scale works are handled as well as you’d expect
from a good sized driver in a decent sized enclosure.
Tchaikovsky, ‘Capriccio Italien’, the LSO’s account under
Kenneth Alwyn [Decca] is a firm favourite chez Dickinson as
he takes it at a rattling pace. And here today the substantial
forces are well balanced, laid out before us with excellent
tonal shading and it’s easy to see how the composer is
playing with the spatial and tonal differences between strings,
woodwind and brass. There’s real scale and weight, too, and
22
the rather exuberant ending doesn’t disappoint by getting all
overexcited, the Kims hold it together for the full front row
centre experience. When things get louder, you sense the
increase in energy and effort, not just the change in volume.
Orchestras can be big, bold and brash without getting out
of shape, so Leonard Bernstein’s wonderfully jazzy phrasing
on ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ [DG] contrasts beautifully with the
energy and scale of the LA Philharmonic, the Kims balancing
the forces as skilfully as Bernstein did; fast, with very little
overhang things feel free from constraint, but not loose, so
you can enjoy the ride without worrying that it’s all about to
trip over its own feet.
There’s a lot here that rests on the technical choices the
FinkTeam has made. The decision to use an 8” bass/mid
driver dictates a wider cabinet than is usual nowadays for a
speaker of this size, but it provides extension and scale that
isn’t easy to achieve with the more common 5” or 6” units.
It’s a little harder to integrate with the Air Motion Transformer
tweeter but the results speak for themselves. FinkTeam
maintain that damping materials can slow the loudspeaker
down and slug the sound, and the Kims make a strong case
for the more intelligent technical solutions they advocate to
ensure the cabinet does its job without singing along. Similarly,
close attention to the design of the rearward-firing reflex port
avoids the more common pitfalls heard in ported designs while
retaining the essential benefits in terms of bass extension and
power handling. Amplifier and room-matching are also catered
for by two adjustable selectors on the rear panel, one for
damping factor, the other for a small amount of treble output
adjustment. Clearly the designers don’t intend quirky amps or
difficult rooms to be a barrier to purchase. I’m generally a fan
of simple crossover designs, but here we have a 4th order unit
which somehow exemplifies transparency, while also doing a
very decent job of preserving the phase relationships that I
have come to think are crucial to a properly involving musical
experience.
And involving it is. The Kims seem to specialise in
preserving the spatial and temporal relationships within the
music. Everything happens when, and where it should, so as
a listener you have less work to do and can just get on with
the business of enjoying the performance. And, interestingly,
you don’t need to drive them hard to get satisfaction. Some
ISSUE 197
Now more connected than ever with Spotify Connect
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visit www.renaissanceaudio.co.uk
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / FINKTEAM KIM
“Played at, ahem, robust levels round these parts, this now has all the
multi-layered complexity, dynamics and tonal colour I could wish for.”
loudspeakers impress most when delivering realistic concert-
style levels; the Kims can do that, too, and will go very loud
indeed without getting hard, shouty or overblown. Just for old
times’ sake I dug out some of the old warhorses, ‘Telegraph
Road’ from Love Over Gold [Vertigo] kept its composure even
in the loudest, busiest bits, retaining the structure sufficiently
intact that you could easily appreciate the phrasing and
technique behind all the bombast. But they’ll also deliver the
goods at modest volume settings, giving a coherent, dynamic
and engaging performance even at late-night levels: Agnes
Obel ‘Familiar’ from Citizen of Glass [PIAS] was revealing.
Played at, ahem, robust levels around these parts, this now
has all the multi-layered complexity, dynamics and tonal colour
I could wish for, even when played quietly. Other aspects of the
music come to the fore, too; there’s a coherence, a ‘rightness’
to the performance that just engages the musical brain with
little obvious effort. Roberto Fonseca, ‘Llegó Cachaíto’
from Zamazu [Enja] was subtle, delicate and affecting, the
24
connection between Fonseca’s piano and Cachaito Lopez’
bass all the better for being rendered at a gentler volume.
Who knew? In contrast ‘Ishmael’ from the same album drives
relentlessly on and, turned up loud, the Kims will rock with
the best of them, while still digging deep into the fast, tactile,
complex percussion. There’s an ability to portray the layers
within a performance, to retain the structure of the music and
the way the parts blend, collide and interact, regardless of
volume setting. The Kims were totally unfazed by the energy
and complexity in Gogo Penguin’s ‘Raven’ from A Humdrum
Star [Blue Note], keeping all the polythythms intact while also
giving me all the shading of tones, and the sheer energy of
the performance.
It’s clearly a very accomplished design. The
unconventional approaches must present a myriad of ways
to royally screw things up, so the fact that I haven’t found the
slightest evidence of up-screwing, royal or otherwise, tells me
that the FinkTeam clearly know their business. The crossover
ISSUE 197
DIABLO 300
Integrity and Integration

www.gryphon-audio.com
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / FINKTEAM KIM
“There’s some latitude in the sweet
spot and off-axis listening doesn’t
destroy the imaging.”
is largely undetectable, partly perhaps because the passband
is lower than usual, at 2200Hz; bass is deep, tuneful and
agile, the better to underpin one of the most natural-sounding
treble units I’ve heard. I’ve used a few loudspeakers with
ribbon tweeters over the years, notably from Elac and Raidho,
and there’s usually a moment when you hear a discontinuity
between treble and bass/midrange units and, once heard,
you can’t un-hear it. The AMT operates differently to a ribbon
design despite looking superficially similar and I have to say,
that moment hasn’t yet happened with the Kims. I’ve been
trying to catch them out so I’m reasonably confident in saying
that this is the best-integrated pairing of two dissimilar driver
technologies I’ve yet had the pleasure of using.
The tweeter seems to have quite wide horizontal
dispersion, too, as there’s some latitude in the sweet spot,
and off-axis listening doesn’t destroy the imaging. And
imaging is one of the strengths here; it goes to that overall
coherence thing, but staging, ambience and positioning of
performers and instruments is solid, stable and not tidally-
locked to one crucial listening position. Vertically, though, a
bit of experimentation with the adjustment of the angle the
cabinets lean back will pay dividends. The integral open frame
stand sets the speaker at a slightly disconcerting, laid-back
angle, the better to project the sound up and into the room
based on typical listening heights and distances; fiddling
with the height of the spikes front to back gives a degree of
fine adjustment if you listen outside that notional range. The
canted-back arrangement reminds me of those cheap and
cheerful IKEA speaker stands all my friends had in the 1980s,
but rather more effective in its implementation here; it also,
happily, prevents the cabinets becoming resting places for
teacups, plant pots, and cats.
I could go on, but suffice to say the Kims seem pretty
agnostic as to genre. Classical, jazz, rock, country, electronica,
girl and guitar; whatever I’ve thrown at them has always
been delivered in a fundamentally lucid way, all the relevant
elements of the music interlocked securely and tightly, but not
in a buttoned-down sense. Everything is free and expressive,
but cohesive. It’s like every musician in my collection got sober
and upped their game. Anitra’s Dance from Grieg’s Peer Gynt
Suite [Decca] was definitely a dance, rhythmically fine-boned,
with accents and punctuation points just so, little musical
26
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Two way, refle ported, stand-mounting
loudspeaker with integral stand
Driver complement: 1 × 8 mid/ ass driver, paper
cone with ru er surround; 1 × 110mm Air Motion
Transformer high frequency unit, pleated Kapton
diaphragm with 50 m aluminium strips
Distortion: 0.2% THD @1W
Crossover frequency: 2.2kHz
Crossover type: 4th order acoustic inkwitz- iley; all-pass
delay for the H unit; impedance compensation.
Air core inductors, Mundorf polypropylene film
capacitors and Mundorf low inductance and Bifilar
resistors. Additional controls for H e tension and
damping
requency response: (in room, typical) 35Hz–25kHz,
ad usta le to 45Hz–23kHz, -10dB
Impedance: Average 8 hms, 5.9 hm minimum
Sensitivity: 86dB 2.83 / 1 metre
Dimensions (H×W×D): ca inet: 500 × 300 × 310mm
(height & depth 854 × 412mm with stand)
Weight: 25.1Kg each
inishes: Choice of veneer finishes and front panel
shades
Price: £8,900/pair (standard finishes)
Manufacturer: inkTeam
: finkteam.com
K distri utor: Kog Audio
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fragments passed around the orchestra like tiny gifts. Utterly
delightful. As was Solveig Slettahjell and her incomparable
version of Tom Waits’ ‘Take it with me’ on Silver [ACT]. Never
less than laid-back, this was positively languid, she has all the
time in the world to perform, and all you need to do is give
yourself the space to luxuriate in it.
The Kim is that rare and beautiful creature: an entry-level
product that needs no excuses. This is no corner-cutting and
cost-shaved bare-bones model, the Kim competes on its own
terms and has the balls, and the finesse to challenge anything
at or near its price. Or a fair few costing a good deal more, for
that matter.
ISSUE 197
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW
Kroma Audio Mimi
stand-mount loudspeaker
by Alan Sircom
he Mimi is a clever and distinctive two-way
T stand-mount bass reflex loudspeaker. However,
there are a gazillion two-way stand-mounted
loudspeakers, many of which are ported. Do we
need another one? Kroma shouts a loud ‘yes!’
and on the basis of the Mimi, the company makes a very good
case for its inclusion in the mid-sized stand-mount pantheon.
Kroma Audio is a Spanish audio company. Spanish audio
brands are relatively rare, but the manufacturing community
there can best be summed up as ‘small, but perfectly formed’,
with a few brands generally making outstanding products,
as opposed to a plethora of companies making some OK
and some not so OK product lines. Kroma makes seven
loudspeakers, two stand-mounts and five floorstanders, of
which the Mimi represents the entry point. It also makes a
generic stand for bookshelf loudspeakers and cable elevators.
The Mimi’s cabinet – like all the other speakers in the range
– is made from Krion, a material produced in Spain made of
two-thirds gibbsite (aluminium trihydrate, or ‘ATH’) and one-
third resin. Think of Krion as a rival to Corian, but with a look
closer to porcelain (Corian often goes for marbled or stone-
like finishes, thanks in part to its extensive use in kitchens and
bathrooms).
Mimi itself is a back-swept design with a fully Krion
cabinet. Although the front, rear, top and bottom of the
cabinet are finished in white or black, the side-walls have
a range of options that go from ‘contrasting’ to ‘wild’ with
the Vacas art finishes. There’s even a 24ct gold leaf finish!
It features a Hiquphon tweeter with a 165mm Scan-Speak
mid/woofer. The single-wired, front ported cabinet hides a
crossover made of some of the finest new and new-old-stock
components known to man, all sealed in resin. The matching
stand is also made of Krion, but with a Panzerholz top plate
and feet. Panzerholz is an extremely high density ‘tank-wood’
plywood material that can be used as a metal substitute and is
actually bulletproof (think of it as a 21st Century alternative to
ebony without the terrifying sustainability issues). This means
you get the anti-resonance and acoustic damping effect of
Panzerholz and Krion combined. Because the loudspeaker
28
itself is backswept and tall the stand is relatively low, but the
speaker+stand combination looks good and the Panzerholz
plinth stands slightly proud in the middle of the speaker’s lines.
The Mimi comes with a set of tiny clear plastic blobs to attach
to the base of the speaker, just to stop it moving around on
the semi-matt top of the Panzerholz plinth. The combination
of Krion and Panzerholz is also used in the new Organic range
of Artesania Audio stands, which is perhaps not that much of
a surprise when you discover there is a business connection
between these two Spanish companies.
An interesting aspect of the Mimi, and Kroma speakers in
general, is the nature of the port. It’s a carefully tuned choice of
cedar or fir, as used by Spanish and Flamenco guitar luthiers.
The Mimi is a ‘Tiger Moth’ of a loudspeaker. While that
probably prompts a solid ‘huh?’ from most people, to a few
that explains a lot. Here’s why; the De Havilland Tiger Moth
biplane was a well-liked trainer aircraft used by the Royal
Air Force (and others) from the mid-1930s until the 1950s
because it was considered an easy aircraft to fly but a hard
aircraft to fly well. Virtually every allied pilot flying in the Battle
of Britain learned their craft in a Tiger Moth, and some are still
in private use to this day. This is useful for more than simply
padding out the text, as partnering and installing the Mimi is
also easy to do but hard to do well, hence the whole RAF-
related aside. You can use it with more or less any amplifier
(90dB efficiency and an eight-ohm load would not tax any
modern amp design except possibly one of the handful of
super-low powered single-ended triode amps), but careful
choice makes a big difference.
Similarly, the difference between getting the loudspeakers
broadly in the right place in the listening room and taking
time to micro-manage that right place is crucial. In fact,
this was one of those loudspeakers that benefitted from
being fired along the room rather than down its length. It
seems placement relative to the rear wall isn’t as important
as its position relative to the side walls and any reflections
produced by those walls. Some subtle room treatment for side
wall reflection is also useful, suggesting a loudspeaker with
excellent dispersion qualities.
ISSUE 197
EQUIPMENT REVIEW / KROMA AUDIO MIMI

29 ISSUE 197
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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / KROMA AUDIO MIMI

“Mimi always makes

music fun thanks in
part to its deceptively
deep bass.”

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Two-way stand-mount
loudspeaker
Drivers: 1× Hiquphon 0.75mm soft dome
tweeter, 1× 165mm ScanSpeak
Classic mid/bass cone
Sensitivity: 90dB (anechoic)
Nominal Impedance: 8
ecommended amplifier power: >15W
Finish: various (see text)
Dimensions (H×W×D, excl stand):
39.8 × 20.8 × 25cm
Weight: 16kg per loudspeaker
Interestingly, while getting the partners and placement right is paramount, Price: £7,950/pr. old/ acas finish:
the Mimi is not so fussy as to room size; its physical size and that it has a add £1,595/pr
single 165mm bass driver per side puts it more into small to medium-sized
rooms (the kind of spaces most urban city-dwellers might have), there is a Stands: £3,495/pr
good degree of flexibility in room dynamics. In no small part, that comes down
to the bass delivery from that driver, which is capable of some extremely deep Manufacturer: Kroma Audio
and rich tones. The Mimi just about passes my Trentemøller test, as those fast, URL: kromaaudio.com
almost square-wave deep beats in ‘Chameleon’ [The Last Resort, Poker Flat]
don’t choke up the front port unless played at ‘healthy’ levels. However, in UK Distributor: Boyer Audio
playing that track, the ‘fight or flight’ response one can get to deep, malevolent URL: boyeraudio.com
bass tones is fully retained. Usually, those deep bass notes are the stuff of Tel: +44(0)330 223 3769
bigger loudspeakers than the Mimi, so making those Lovecraftian rumbles is
a sign of quality.
Really good loudspeakers fall broadly into two camps; those that go for
absolute precision and fidelity to what is recorded, and those that go for a more This a loudspeaker that can play loud
musically integrated approach that is always a pleasure to hear. The Mimi falls comfortably, but most importantly also Mimi
very much into that latter camp. Those who want to extract sonic information always makes music fun thanks in part to its
from their recordings to get that peculiar ‘accuracy under duress’ stark deceptively deep bass. In the process, your
presentation will find the Mimi wanting; this is all about making a sound that is attention is directed away from musical micro-
lifelike and engaging; you are always aware of listening to music – not simply management elements like micro-dynamics
the sound music makes while trying to escape the loudspeakers – through the and filigree detail and all the ‘tinkly’ bits
Mimis. That means a lot of those test-bed recordings that I’ve played so much some audiophiles crave; this is all about the
I’ve worn the digits flat, end up either being musically uninspiring (I’m looking music. A deceptively big sound with a wide
at you, Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances and also at you Un Bal by Berlioz... soundstage from a relatively small speaker
it’s a fine piece of music, but not the classical be-all and end-all it sometimes makes the Mimi hard to ignore, especially as
becomes in audio reviewing), but others truly shine. it looks as good as it sounds.

31 ISSUE 197
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

Technics Reference Class

SU-R1000 integrated
amplifier by Alan Sircom

criticism levelled – with some justification – Technics, on the other hand, doesn’t ‘do’ retro in

A at the audio industry is that it’s backwards

looking and technologically moribund. In part,
the reason this criticism can be justified is that
few companies in audio are large enough to do
any real ‘blue sky’ research and development these days, so
new products are frequently older designs with minor tweaks.
In a world where the technology of five years ago seems like
they have instruction manuals in Latin, amplifier circuits that
are variations on a design first seen when Yuri Gagarin was still
just a test pilot are like something out of the Jurassic Era. And
yet, there are modern audio amplifiers that draw inspiration
from models made in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
that sense and has the backing to do that kind of ‘blue
sky’ research into new audio tech. That might sound a bit
odd, when describing a brand perhaps best known for its
turntables, but bear with me. One of the good things that
come out of audio’s inherent reactionary stance is the notion
that change for change’s sake is pointless unless the change
can be justified in performance terms. Technics takes this
approach where possible throughout; the company didn’t re-
engineer its direct drive turntables just to ‘cash in’ on the vinyl
revival but rebuilt its advanced turntable projects from scratch
once more because it was the right thing to do to push sound
quality forwards once more.

33 ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / TECHNICS REFERENCE CLASS SU-R1000
All of which brings us to the Reference Class SU-R1000
integrated amplifier. From a surface inspection, this looks like
a well-made, classic-looking upper-tier Japanese amplifier;
the kind of elegant brushed-aluminium powerhouse that
would look equally at home in the 1980s as it does today. The
timeless looks are deceptive, however, as under that classic
exterior is an amplifier unlike any other.
I’m going to begin this exploration of why the SU-R1000
is so different with a bit of a rant. This is a digital amplifier, NOT
a Class D amplifier. Moreover, Class D does not mean ‘digital’;
Class D is a high-speed, high-efficiency switching amplifier.
The nearest this gets to ‘digital’ is the input signal modulates a
high-frequency sawtooth wave, and the resultant high-speed
pulse-width modulation to switch the MOSFETs in the output
on and off. It’s ‘digital’ in the same way that turning a light on
and off while exposing a roll of film is ‘digital photography’.
Technics went its own way with its JENO-engine amplifier.
This is a true digital amplifier, in so far as the input signal is
either native digital or 24bit, 192kHz converted analogue.
These are then fed into a sample-rate converter and a delta-
sigma pulse width modulation converter, maning the output
is a 1.5MHz PWN digital stream. This is fed to a FET driver
power amplifier stage. Continuing down the ‘it’s not a Class
D amplifier’ route, where the switching system of Class D
allows a MOSFET to spend at least half its time switched
‘off’ meaning a Class D amplifier typically runs cool, the FET
output stage of JENO needs to dissipate some heat, so those
heatsinks and vents are not simply for show. OK, it doesn’t run
Class A hot and it’s still cooler than most conventional Class
AB power amps capable of delivering 150W into eight ohms,
but nowhere near the ‘is this thing on?’ of Class D.
The reason why a full-digital amplifier has not been used
more widely is few companies have the resources to resolve
the jitter that has the potential to plague a high-speed, high-
precision digital datastream. Put simply, the sample rate
conversion system used by Technics takes care of that.
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / TECHNICS REFERENCE CLASS SU-R1000
This JENO engine has been used by Technics before,
but the SU-R1000 brings a new circuit – ADCT or Active
Distortion-Cancelling Technology – to the table. This monitors
both the power supply of the amplifier and back EMF from the
loudspeakers, corrects through cancellation, and introduces
the cancellation waveform into the JENO engine, between
the sample rate and the delta-sigma conversion stages. And,
staying with the ‘getting things wrong’ rant-mode, this isn’t
akin to negative feedback circuits; it’s more like active noise
cancelling in headphones.
The other module in the full-digital amplifier is Load
Adaptive Phase Cancellation, or LAPC. This circuit sends
a calibration signal to the loudspeakers, measuring at the
speaker terminals the impedance of the loudspeakers (and
cables) to both compensate for any nasty phase angles in the
impedance plot and ensuring the amp delivers a signal tailored
to the loudspeakers early into the digital amplification process.
Although the loudspeakers make some interesting pings and
quacks, this is an electrical rather than acoustic measurement.
Frankly, my mind went from ‘LAPC’ to ‘LAPD’... and given the
tones produced are effectively the amplifier shouting “Freeze...
Impedance Police!” to the loudspeaker, maybe that’s no bad
mnemonic. One thing to note, however; each time you change
loudspeakers or even speaker cables, you need to run the
LAPC routine, as it’s sensitive enough to compensate for
impedance changes between loudspeaker cables. One might
argue that LAPC reduces the impact of different cables by
factoring in their impedance into the sound of the amplifier...
You might think that. I couldn’t possibly comment!
But perhaps, of all the clever parts of this amplifier, none
are quite so brightly lit as the intelligent phono preamplifier.
There are three extremely clever aspects to this. The first is
the use of a part analogue, part digital ‘Hybrid EQ’ which
keeps the low-end of the curve in the analogue domain, and
the higher frequencies converted to digital. This is done to
keep noise low and precision high. This resulting signal is
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / TECHNICS REFERENCE CLASS SU-R1000
“Like the LAPC, all of these phono optimisation systems can be turned
off, but why would you do that when they work so well?”
then modulated through two processes that require some
input from the record player itself; Crosstalk cancellation,
and response optimisation. The SU-R1000 is supplied with
a four track LP, each track being an identical combination
of trigger signal, frequency sweep and white noise. The
sweep is to optimise the cartridge to the phono stage, the
white noise is to determine and cancel out crosstalk. The
results of this test record can be stored in the SU-R1000
memory, with up to four cartridges stored and named to fit
your bill (although if that involves giving a cartridge the name
‘flauccinauccinihilipilification’, find another bill). Like the LAPC
36
system, all of these phono optimisation systems can be turned
off, but why would you do that when they work so well?
While this phono stage would prove difficult to break out
into an independent box (at the very least, the signal would
need to go into and out of the digital domain), it would be
a joy to use and a fine match for top-end Technics decks.
Technics could make the LCD screen a bit bigger, too, while
they are at it.
All of this high-tech take on audio is as nothing if it
doesn’t sound any good. More importantly, it doesn’t
do any good if it doesn’t sound good from input to input,
ISSUE 197
• • •
• • •
• • •
• • •
• • •
• • •
• • •
• • •
• • •
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / TECHNICS REFERENCE CLASS SU-R1000
“A lot of information extraction,
with no impediments between
input and loudspeaker driver.”
and it’s here the Technics SU-R1000 really shows what it’s
capable of. It doesn’t really matter whether you are feeding
the amplifier through its RCA inputs, via a digital link or
through the phono stage, the amplifier returns an extremely
consistent performance throughout. It’s also a musically
consistent performance; not focusing on one specific aspect
of the musical ‘whole’ and instead making a good, powerful
presentation across the board. You get the sense of a lot of
information extraction, with no impediments between input
and loudspeaker driver. In listening to the Technics amp, you
begin to discover how rare and how good it is to experience
that type of performance. It however makes pulling out
musical examples a bit academic, because that consistency
means what applies to one applies throughout. Whatever you
put through this amplifier, and whichever input you choose,
you will get the same large, dynamic, detailed and bold sound
with excellent imaging properties. Put simply, if it’s on the
recording, it’s damn well coming out of the loudspeakers...
that’s the maxim the SU-R1000 lives by!
But perhaps the phono stage best highlights this
egalitarian approach to music. Here, while other phono
stages often focus in on something like the pace, rhythm and
timing of a piece of music, the Technics is more attuned to
the general performance. That means the Technics doesn’t
force you to tap your foot along to the beat as much as some,
but temper that by the Technics’ more detailed presentation
with outstanding soundstage properties and an extremely low
noise floor. You get the feeling that there is a lot of information
being extracted from the record, but not in a soulless way and
a lot of the surface noise is less immediately noticeable due
to the leading-edge speed of the Technics design. The recent
box set of Abbey Road by The Beatles [Apple/Universal] is a
fine example of how this works. ‘Something’ or ‘Because’ are
almost perfect demonstration tracks for the Technics amp,
as the combination of detail and space, with good dynamics,
makes these classics come to life between your loudspeakers.
On the other hand, Ringo’s famous drum solo on ‘The End’,
though equally detailed and dynamic, lacked the ‘rooted’
rhythmic properties of the more beat-oriented designs.
However, I think the key things about the Technics SU-
R1000 are that consistency of sound across all sources
and that this is not simply an exercise in amplifier design
38
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Technics Reference Class SU-R1000
Type: oad-adaptive integrated digital amplifier with
phono stage
Analogue inputs: CA line inputs (×2), XLR balanced line
input, CA phono input (MM/MC), phono input
(MC only), CA main/record inputs
Digital inputs: Optical digital ×2, Coaxial digital ×2,
USB-B ×2
Analogue outputs: CA preamp/record outputs, 6.3mm
headphone socket, A-B loudspeaker terminals
Power output: 150W per channel into 8 , 300W per
channel into 4
requency response: 5Hz–80kHz (-3dB, 8 , line and
digital inputs), 20Hz–20kHz ( IAA deviation ±1dB, 8 ,
MM input)
USB Support: SB 2.0 high-speed, SB Audio Class 2.0,
Asynchronous mode
Codec Support: PCM (32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, 192,
352.8, 384 kHz / 16, 24, 32 it), DSD (2.8 MHz, 5.6
MHz, 11.2 MHz, 22.4 MHz ASI ative mode only)
Dimensions (W×H×D): 43 × 19.1 × 45.9cm
Weight: 22.8kg
Price: £6,999
Manufacturer: Technics
URL: technics.com
Tel: 0333 222 8777 ( K only)
for its own sake. It’s clean, detailed, precise, dynamic and
has an excellent walk-in soundstage with very good solidity.
Furthemore, unless you are trying to drive lumps of steel and
concrete masquerading as loudspeakers, this takes control of
the loudspeakers with precision and authority; not changing
the sound of the loudspeakers, just setting them up to sound
as good as they can.
Technics also made a product in the SU-R1000 that
changes the shape of audio amplification, which could so
easily have become a technical exercise with no real benefits.
Instead, it’s an amplifier that deserves to be taken seriously
both for what’s going on inside it, and the sound it produces.
Not everyone will get this, because many like their comfort
zone set to 1970s time, but to listen to the SU-R1000 is to
experience a bit of audio’s future... and that future sounds
pretty damn good.
ISSUE 197
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW
Modwright Instruments
KWH 225i integrated
amplifier by Jason Kennedy
S
ome of the more interesting companies in
this industry started out by modifying existing
components; Tom Evans made his name
upgrading the clocks in CD players to good
effect in the UK, and in the USA Dan Wright of
Modwright fame brought out the humanity in digital audio by
adding tubes to the analogue outputs of DACs and CDPs
around the turn of the millennium. Today, Modwright also
makes a range of electronics using a mix of tube and solid
state technology. As founder Dan Wright puts it, “I prefer tube
circuits for line-level applications, such as source, preamp,
phono or any voltage gain stage. I prefer SS components
anytime that current is being amplified. This is not 100% hard
and fast as I have also designed and been quite happy with
both SS and PP [push-pull] all tube designs.”
Modwright follows this thinking by making valve-based
preamps, phono stages and DACs alongside transistor power
41
amps, but he’s aware that not everyone has the budget or
space to accommodate multi-box amplification and this
spurred the creation of the KWH 225i hybrid integrated amp.
It’s based on the company’s KWI 200 transistor integrated, but
has a preamplifier section built around a pair of triode valves
which can be seen through an opening on top of the box. The
power amplifier stage uses bipolar transistors and is specified
to deliver 225 Watts into eight Ohms and nearly twice that
into four, so it’s a powerful device and not just a heavy one.
The blue anodised heat sinks on either flank are not just there
to complement the display. It’s no bulldozer however, as the
first 25W are in Class A and Wright stipulates that there is no
global feedback used.
Internally it is constructed from modules which must ease
maintenance as well as future upgrades. In standard form,
the KWH 225i is a line-level amplifier with three inputs on
RCA and one on XLR plus a fourth RCA pair for home theatre
ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / MODWRIGHT INSTRUMENTS KWH 225I
“Equally important,
however, is the option
to dim the display
down to nothing for
those moments when
you need to eliminate
distractions and
ascend to the cosmos.”
bypass/preamp input purposes. Unlike some Modwright
amps you can’t add a DAC module, but there is the option to
install a solid-state phono stage for MM and high output MC
cartridges; gain is only 50dB, so those with regular MCs will
need a step up. Alternatively, Modwright makes standalone
phono stages that cater for both cartridge types and have
tube rather than solid-state amplification stages.
I like the large displays for volume and input on this amp.
It certainly beats squinting across the room for the marker on
the edge of a volume knob. Equally important, however, is the
option to dim the display down to nothing for those moments
when you need to eliminate distractions and ascend to the
cosmos along with David Gilmour, or whoever floats your
escape pod. Display dimming, input selection and volume
can be adjusted with an aluminium handset that is unusually
chunky, but not very large and more ergonomic than it might
appear. The handset can also turn the amp on and off. A few
other buttons are present but do not relate to this amplifier,
and don’t detract from its functionality.
Listening commenced with the KWH 225i hooked up to
an iFi Pro iDSD DAC, using the tube output stage setting,
and a pair of PMC twenty5.26i floorstanding loudspeakers,
a pairing that proved to be highly engaging and entertaining.
Wright says that “Sonically, I like black backgrounds, low noise
42
and clean detailed sound, balanced with the right amount of
tube body and weight.” And that is what I heard; this amplifier
has excellent transparency to detail allied to bass that is fuller
and juicier than found on an all transistor amplifier. Wright has
clearly managed to combine these two technologies rather
well because it was all I could do to press pause and drag
my sorry arse off the listening seat and over to the keyboard.
Initially I put on Skylab’s #1 [Astralwerks] just to warm
up the system in the background, but the quality of burbling
was just too interesting to ignore and I was soon bathing in
some seriously subterranean rumblings that were as much
physical as aural. What’s more, the melodic bits over the top
remained open and inviting at the same time; this album has
deeper bass on it than most but usually this aspect becomes
tiring after a while. Here, the Modwright provided the low
end in context so that the music came first and the sound
second. Something that valves seem to be rather good at
more often than not. With Keith Jarrett on the stage [‘Part VII,
London’, Paris/London – Testament, ECM] his stomping
was low enough to feel yet not overpowering nor injurious
to the brilliance of the playing. What’s clear is the solidity and
power of the piano, it has a greater physical presence in the
Modwrights hands than usual but this only enhanced the
performance by putting the player and instrument in the room.
ISSUE 197
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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / MODWRIGHT INSTRUMENTS KWH 225I
“(Imaging) was more on depth
than width/height but the sense of
musical flow was very powerful.”
The KWH 225i positively encourages music with decent
low end, and I don’t need much encouragement in the first
place, so Bob Marley’s ‘Natural Mystic’ soon found itself in
the play queue. Here what strikes one initially is the reverb
on the voice, which is not usually a clear characteristic, but
this amp is particularly transparent and reveals such details
with ease. That said, the bass guitar does sound particularly
good in a chocolatey way; it’s open strings seemingly looser
and more relaxed than usual. Realising that I was being pulled
down a river of bass I switched to an orchestral piece where
other qualities might be revealed. Maxim Emelyanychev’s
take on Schubert’s ‘The Great’ [Scottish Chamber Orchestra,
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, Linn] is a large scale work
with plenty of scale and dynamics that the Modwright revelled
in. The emphasis image-wise was more on depth than width/
height but the sense of musical flow was very powerful and
made me want to listen for longer. Another classical piece with
solo violin revealed the tonal qualities of the amp, bringing out
the character of the instrument and player, the slight extra
warmth of the balance countering any tendency to stridency
in the higher notes.
Going back to more contemporary instrumentation
of Laurie Anderson’s ‘Gravity’s Angel’ [Mister Heartbreak,
Warner Bros] underpinned the sense that you can hear an
awful lot through this Modwright; it zooms in on the quiet
stuff somehow and shows you just what’s going on. At the
same time there’s power and weight in the bass line, and it’s a
great bass line, and there are some weird phasey effects with
sounds shooting around the stage, the combination making
for a very solid sonic picture for the listener to watch and
wonder at. As Dan is a vinyl fan I put on a couple of records
via a Tom Evans Groove SRX phono stage and this proved
to be a very worthwhile exercise. The new Abbey Lincoln re-
master from Craft Recordings (Abbey is Blue) sounding superb
with very clear acoustic from the venue and excellent image
definition, the beautiful tone of the original tube electronics
bringing out the soul of this fine singer.
It’s always interesting to try different speakers with any
amp so I wrestled a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 802s into place.
There’s an enthusiastic quote from an 802 owner on the
Modwright website and it instantly became clear why this is the
case; the sound they produce was nothing short of vivid in its
44
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Hy rid, 2-channel integrated amplifier.
Analogue inputs: Three single-ended line-level inputs
(via RCA jacks), one balanced input (via XLR
connectors), one home cinema bypass input (via
RCA jacks)
Digital inputs: N/A
Analogue outputs: Pre outputs (via RCA jacks),
loudspeaker terminals on 5-way binding posts
Supported sample rates: N/A
Input impedance: 20kOhms
Output impedance (preamp): N/A
Headphone Loads: N/A
Power Output: 225Wpc @ 8 Ohms, 400Wpc @ 4 Ohms
Bandwidth: 20Hz–100kHz
Distortion: ot specified
Signal to Noise Ratio: ot specified
Dimensions (H×W×D): 165 × 432 × 432mm
Weight: 29kg
Price: £8,500
Manufacturer: Modwright Instruments
URL: modwright.com
UK Distributor: Elite Audio
Tel: 0800 4647274
URL: eliteaudiouk.com
transparency and three dimensionality. What’s more, a number
of pieces created a soundstage that was so real and deep
that it felt as if you could walk into it. The solid-state power
amplifier serves to amplify the beguiling qualities of those two
triode valves and produces results that are electrifying in their
immediacy and atmosphere. The recording needs to be good
to achieve this of course, but plenty of the tracks I tried did
the trick including the distinctly lo-fi eponymous debut from
Tortoise, the track ‘Night Air’ having a reach out and touch
it presence that encouraged level and extended listening. In
fact all the better sounding tunes encouraged me to push the
volume, the 802 is a little reluctant in the midrange and this
amp balances this perfectly so the end result is very pleasing.
Dan Wright has done a fine job of marrying the qualities of
valve and solid state electronics in the KWH 225i which is a well
built and musically compelling amplifier that will charm many
listeners, especially those with revealing loudspeakers.
ISSUE 197
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

KEF LS50 Meta stand-mount

loudspeaker
by Alan Sircom

nless you have been spending

U WAY too long in your man-cave in

recent years, you will have heard
at least something about the KEF
LS50 in all its active and passive
guises. Originally inspired by the LS3/5a but
brought very much up to date with KEF’s latest
Uni-Q driver array, the small, high performance
stand-mount has been the loudspeaker to beat
since it first appeared almost nine years ago.
If, as Rab Butler said, “a week is a long time in
politics”, then nine years is a lifetime for a loudspeaker. Few
of the LS50’s peers from 2012 are still around in their same
iterations, but it’s something of a testament to the original
LS50 design that it took until the latter part of 2020 for its
LS50 Meta replacement to roll out, and on the face of it,
differences are minimal in the extreme. The LS50 Meta has
the same form-factor, the same basic cabinet construction
(a resin/GRP compound to produce the gently curved front
baffle, with a braced MDF cabinet for the rear and sides). The
cabinet has been cleaned up slightly, but you really need a
pair of original LS50s in side-by-side comparison to spot the
cleaner rear panel (no more visible bolt holes holding the front
baffle in place). But the only real changes are additional colour
ways, such as the Royal Blue version I received.
No, the changes are more to do with the Uni-Q driver itself
and the crossover network, and both of these are extremely
difficult to see even on close inspection. The most significant
of these changes is ‘MAT’ (short for Metamaterial Absorption
Technology). This is an internally mounted labyrinth behind the
aluminium tweeter at the acoustic centre of the Uni-Q
cone. The 30 tubes inside this MAT are designed
to absorb different frequencies from about
600Hz on up, in the process reducing rear
resonance firing into the cabinet itself. Meaning
the already inert cabinet is even less likely to sing
along with the tweeter, making a sound that is less
distorted at high frequencies and high levels. The drive
unit itself has been re-engineered to reflect eight years of R&D.

47 ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / KEF LS50 META
“The KEF LS50 Meta has some big shoes to fill as the LS50 was one of
the best-loved loudspeakers of its time.”
An essentially ‘new’ Uni-Q driver requires a new crossover
network, but these appear relatively minimal, with just a mild
change to the crossover frequency, down by 100Hz to 2.1kHz.
Everything else reads as it did in 2012. That means the LS50
Meta follows the LS50 in being relatively undemanding a
load; 85dB sensitivity isn’t ‘high’ and that – coupled with a
minimum impedance of around 3.5 ohms – means a little
more care and attention in partnering is required. KEF is often
demonstrated with Hegel at the moment, and this happens to
be an excellent combination. But realistically, most competent
modern amplifiers will work well.
Setting up Uni-Q-based speakers can be slightly different
to the norm, in that often toe-in is negligible, and the speakers
end up firing down the room almost parallel to one another.
They need some breathing space from the rear wall, however,
and at least half a metre will help.
The KEF LS50 Meta has some big shoes to fill as the LS50
was one of the best-loved loudspeakers of its time. It was,
however, perhaps a little bit rough-edged at times, especially
when playing classical, folk or jazz. They were transparent,
with a fine sense of musical bounce into the bottom end, but
when faced with the elegance of a fine folk or opera singer, the
original LS50 perhaps lacked a little finesse and elegance. In
fairness, this was more than made up for by its detail, imaging
and impressive senses of scale, headroom and dynamic range
for a compact loudspeaker.
The LS50 Meta addresses the elegance issue without
undermining the speaker in any of its over performance
objectives. The LS50 Meta is significantly more refined than
its predecessor. When I had a pair of LS50s, I was surprised
at how well they played ZZ Top, but now they add Mahler to
that list of impressive things played loud for scale.
I hardly noticed the cabinet of the LS50 singing along with
the tweeter, but in hearing the LS50 Meta, you quickly recall
where it used to interact, because such cabinet intrusion has
been whisked away. That high frequency ‘sizzle’ that made
the LS50 a little too exuberant at times has gone, but it hasn’t
taken any of the excitement to the higher frequencies with it.
Instead, you get energy and extension without any sense of
‘sizzle’ or ‘zing’. This means Joyce DiDonato’s voice singing
Bellini’s ‘I Capuleti e i Montecchi’ [Stella di Napoli, Erato] holds
a purity and finesse that the LS50 could never fully reach.
48
While it also retains the drive and impact of the original LS50
(which comes over in the space around her voice and her
ability to sing at eyeball-rattling intensity), the addition of that
ease and refinement in the upper midrange and treble is
beguiling and highly addictive.
In fact, the LS50 Meta is more of an all-round win than first
expected. Yes, it makes well-recorded music soar and spring
to life even more than it did before, but it is also in the process
a little more forgiving of some of the less-well recorded albums
in a collection: I’m looking at you, Oasis... (What’s The Story)
Morning Glory? [Creation] might have sold in the grillions,
but it sounds thin, shouty and compressed. The LS50 Meta
doesn’t transform it into an audiophile recording, but neither
does it make an already vexatious recording unlistenable. That
clean, refined mid-range and treble don’t tame this album, but
neither do they expose painfully its sonic iniquities.
It’s difficult in this review not to ignore the importance
of the original LS50 sound, and instead focus on the
improvements between that and the LS50 Meta, but it’s worth
going over what’s unchanged in the presentation, because
it’s still so damn good. This is a loudspeaker that images
beautifully; there is a three-dimensionality to the sound that
both scales well (small sounding vocals remain small, over-
produced 1970s Olympic Studios drum sounds remain giant)
and can cope with everything from small folk combos to large
orchestral pieces, remaining surprisingly solid and precise
throughout. It’s also extremely dynamic and times surprisingly
well, too. Vocal presentation in particular is clear and articulate,
as you might expect from a loudspeaker designed to carry the
LS3/5a baton into the 21st Century.
However, in truth, I thought the name a bit silly and
expected to lay into KEF over it (“What’s next? The Blade
Zeitgeist Edition?”), but in fact it’s absolutely right. This is
not a ‘Mk II’ or a ‘special edition’, but it’s more than just an
LS50 with a lower-case vowel as a suffix. ‘Meta’ has several
meanings, but the three that spring to mind are ‘describing
something of a higher-order (like a metalanguage)’, describing
a change in condition (like metamorphosis) and something
self-referential (but not in a sarcastic way). The LS50 Meta
ticks all those boxes; it’s made very much with reference to
the LS50, but the LS50 is transformed by the Meta updates,
and it makes it a higher-order design.
ISSUE 197
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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / KEF LS50 META

“‘A loudspeaker that will continue

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
to set the standard for affordable
KEF LS50 Meta
stand-mounts for years to come.” Type: two-way ass refle stand-mount loudspeaker
Drive units: ni- Driver Array (H : 25 mm vented
aluminium dome with Metamaterial A sorption
Technology M / : 130 mm aluminium cone)
requency response (±3dB): 79Hz–28kHz
requency range (-6dB): 47Hz–45kHz
Typical in-room ass response (-6dB): 26Hz
Crossover frequency: 2.1kHz
Harmonic distortion (90dB, 1m): 0.4 175 Hz–20 kHz
0.1 300 Hz–10 kHz
Ma imum output: 106dB
Amplifier power (recommended): 40–100W
ominal impedance: 8 (min. 3.5 )
Sensitivity (2.83 /1m): 85dB
inishes: Car on Black, Titanium rey, Mineral White,
oyal Blue Special dition
Dimensions (H×W×D) with terminal: 30.2 × 20 × 28.1 cm
Finally, I tried the LS50 Meta with the S2 floor stand Weight: 7.8kg per loudspeaker
designed for the original LS50 and still very much in Price: £1,000 per pair
production. It’s both a visual match and a sonic improvement
to the loudspeaker itself. It’s the right balance of mass (too KEF S2 Floor Stand
much mass can make the LS50 models slightly bass light, inishes: Car on Black, Titanium rey, Mineral White,
while too light makes them a bit ‘zingy’ in the upper mid), and oyal Blue Special dition, Crimson ed Special
the pairing results in a ‘nothing to criticise’ £1,400 combo. dition
Would the LS50 Meta win me over if I didn’t like the Dimensions (H×W×D), with plinth: 65.2 × 22.6 × 30.8 cm
originals in the first place? Probably not, but the improvements Weight: 4.85kg per stand
mean you shouldn’t dismiss them out of hand. OK, if the Price: £400
reason you didn’t like them in the first place comes down to
not liking the sound of Uni-Q then no amount of Meta is going Manufacturer: K
to change that (personally, I’ve never ‘got’ this argument, but : kef.com
some simply don’t like one speaker in the acoustic centre of T : +44(0)1622 672261
another on a point of principle). However, if your reason for
not buying a pair was because you felt the original LS50 ‘a
little uncouth’ or ‘a bit unrefined’, the LS50 Meta fixes those
concerns, and then some. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is clearly a maxim that KEF
Then, would I buy a pair of LS50 Meta if I already own lives by. There was a lot in the original LS50 that KEF got so
a pair of LS50? That one’s a little harder, but on balance I’d very right, there was little point in changing it. So, it didn’t!
say ‘yes’. If you own an original pair, the improvements the Instead, it changed the parts that could be brought up to date
LS50 Meta brings will be marked and noticeable. The question and the result is a loudspeaker that will continue to set the
becomes a little harder in to answer if you have a pair that are standard for affordable stand-mounts for years to come. More
just out of warranty, but not by much. In absolute terms, the importantly, the original LS50 was loved for its combination of
LS50 Meta is good enough to be a worthwhile upgrade over guts and clarity, and now it is gutsier and even clearer than
the original, especially as if you like the LS50’s sound, then the ever. And it does so without losing that easy musicality and
next step is likely a KEF Reference model, and that’s a larger effortless fun the original put into replay. I even like the stands.
financial commitment. There is no way these LS50 Meta are going back to KEF!

50 ISSUE 197
 V10 Phono Preamplifier

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EQUIPMENT REVIEW
Sennheiser IE 900 In-ear
headphones by Simon Lucas
s you may have read, Sennheiser’s search
A for a buyer for its high-profile, well-regarded
yet not-all-that-profitable consumer audio
division ended at the start of May this year.
The announcement that Swiss hearing care
company Sonova Holding AG is now the proud owner of all
that history, all that cachet and all those high-profile, well-
regarded yet not-all-that-profitable soundbars, headphones
and DACs came just ahead of the launch of these IE 900s –
which makes them a product that signifies both the end of an
era and a brave new beginning.
But new ground can only be broken once, right? In the
world of consumer electronics in general and hi-fi equipment in
particular, once that new ground has been broken, everything
that comes afterwards is just a variation on a theme. And
you’d be forgiven for thinking the good people in Sennheiser’s
consumer audio departments might have bigger fish to fry
right now than simply turning out a variation on a theme, no
53
matter how impressive that variation might be. Anyway, on
the face of it the biggest variation on the wired in-ear monitor
theme the IE 900 represent revolves around their remarkably
hefty asking price.
You’d be hard-pressed to come up with a consumer
electronics category that’s currently less fashionable than
wired in-ear headphones. ‘In-ear’ strongly suggests ‘portable’,
and ‘portable’ is currently a euphemism for ‘wireless’. And let’s
face it, ‘£1,099 per pair’ has never been all that fashionable
where in-ear headphones of any configuration are concerned.
So it seems reasonable to suggest the IE 900 are something
of a niche product. But this is not to suggest Sennheiser
hasn’t lavished the sort of attention on the IE 900 that has
always made the company’s in-ear monitors such compelling
propositions.
Even if considered simply as a feat of engineering,
Sennheiser’s achievements with the IE 900 are significant.
Each earpiece housing is milled (on five – count ‘em! –
ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / SENNHEISER IE 900
axes) from a single billet of aluminium – on the outside, this
creates an interestingly contoured, jewelry-like appearance,
while on the inside it means a triple-chamber absorption
system. Dubbed ‘TC3A’, the system (which also features
an acoustic vortex milled into the nozzle) is designed to
counter the ‘masking’ effect that manifests itself at lower
volumes. In simple terms, human hearing struggles to identify
high-frequency sounds if lower-frequency sounds occur at
the same time and at a higher volume – so the absorber
system removes peaks of interference, allowing uncoloured
reproduction of the frequency range even at modest volume
levels. That’s the theory, anyhow.
Doing the sonic business inside each earpiece is the most
recently fettled version of Sennheiser’s 7mm extra wide-band
transducer. This new ‘X3R’ transducer, naturally enough,
shoots for super-tight tolerances and class-leading fidelity
– Sennheiser is claiming the lowest unit-to-unit variations
ever achieved in miniature dynamic drivers such as this. The
company uses precision cameras to monitor components
during production, and tests the transducers before and
after pairing. A claimed frequency response of 5Hz – 48kHz
and THD of 0.05% at 94dB does rather hint at high-level
performance. Many rival manufacturers like to incorporate a
54
balanced armature or two in support of a dynamic driver when
designing their own high-end in-ear monitors – but Sennheiser
(not without justification) asserts that one driver to cover the
entire frequency range, if properly implemented, represents
the epitome of high performance.
To ensure this high-level performance is available no
matter the source player into which the IE 900 are plugged,
they’re supplied with a choice of connectors terminating with
MMCX connectors. Take your pick from 3.5mm unbalanced,
2.5mm balanced or 4.4mm balanced – ideally you’ll be using
one of the last two, plugged into a high-quality digital audio
player. Because if you don’t have a nice DAP with unbalanced
output(s), why are you spending a comfortable four figures on
some high-performance in-ear monitors?
For the purposes of this test, the IE 900 are attached to
a FiiO M11 Pro digital audio player via their 4.4mm balanced
cable and to an EarMen TR-Amp headphone amplifier via their
3.5mm unbalanced alternative. The headphone amp itself
is charged with turning the USB audio output of an Apple
MacBook Air from a sow’s ear into a silk purse – and unlikely
as it seems, the TR-AMp has pulled off this trick before.
It’s no mean feat to sound simultaneously wide open and
tightly unified, but it’s this apparent dichotomy that’s the most
ISSUE 197
TD3.8
Taking Raidho
to the next
level

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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / SENNHEISER IE 900
“It’s the midrange, though, where the IE 900 are at their most
prodigiously communicative.”
immediately impressive aspect of the IE 900 sound. A hefty
24bit/192kHz file of The Band’s Across the Great Divide
[Capitol] makes it absolutely plain: the Sennheisers create
such a spacious soundstage that each individual element
or strand of the recording is simple to locate, enjoys proper
autonomy in its specific area, and has more than enough
room to reveal even the finest or most transient details of
its individual performance. But at the same time, there’s an
unarguable sense of singularity about the way the IE 900
present this song – the impression of a group of musicians
performing sympathetically, responding to each other and to
the demands of the composition on the fly, is extremely strong.
Very few headphones, no matter the price, can communicate
the idea of musicians all bearing down on a piece of music
with a commonality of purpose, but a free-flowing looseness
at the same time, as these Sennheisers.
The same recording allows the IE 900 to showcase
their talents where a smooth, even and utterly convincing
description of the frequency range is concerned. Not many
groups manage to make modern instrumentation sound
as antiquated, whiskery and woody as The Band, and the
Sennheisers are almost gratuitously detailed from the top of
the frequency range to the bottom. Bass is full-figured but
fleet of foot, with plenty of substance but next-to-nothing by
way of overhang – control is absolute. At the opposite end,
there’s absolutely as much bit and shine to treble sounds as
is acceptable – but though they periodically threaten to spill
over into harshness or shoutiness, it never quite happens and,
instead, they offer some citric sharpness to the otherwise
‘down-home’ tonality The Band so relished.
It’s in the midrange, though, where the IE 900 are at their
most prodigiously communicative. Detail levels are sky-high,
and the line between forensic meticulousness and spontaneity
of performance is walked with complete confidence. Listening
to this song as an information-rich digital file via a pair of
Sennheiser IE 900 is not unlike looking at a beautiful view
through a freshly washed window.
And the story remains the same no matter the sort of
music you care to listen to or how you may seek to find a
weakness in the IE 900 game. They tear through Pere Ubu’s
Non-Alignment Pact [Blank] with obvious relish, they are
as soothing as they come with ((( 0 )))’s Nature’s Joint [The
56
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Type: in-ear
Drivers: 7mm dynamic driver
Frequency Response: 5Hz–48kHz
Impedance: 16 Ohms
Noise cancellation: none
Distortion: < 0.05% at 94dB/1kHz
Sensitivity: not quoted
Accessories: 6 × silicon/foam eartips; hard case;
MMCX-terminated 2.5mm, 3.5mm and 4.4mm cables
Weight: 4g
Price: £1,099
Manufacturer: Sennheiser
URL: en-uk.sennheiser.com
UK Distributor: Sennheiser
URL: en-uk.sennheiser.com
Sundrop Garden], they have the dynamic prowess and powers
of rhythmic expression to make the heavily processed sound
of Clinic’s 2nd Foot Stomp [Domino] sound almost organic.
Really, once you’ve managed to justify the outlay to
yourself there are remarkably few downsides to Sennheiser
IE 900 ownership. They’re light, comfortable, and Sennheiser
has made a real effort with the way they are packaged and
presented. Each cable resists the transmission of any kind of
noise. The way the housings are milled, and the material from
which they’re constructed, makes them look quite attractive
in situ too.
Of course, when a piece of equipment has to be small
and light by simple requirement of its function, it’s nigh-on
impossible to make it look like a premium product (unless
you just cover it in Swarovski crystals or something). And
sure enough, no one is going to glance at you and your
IE 900 in-ear monitors and think “my goodness, they look
expensive!”. But when you’re in the right spot – which is inside
a pair of IE 900 – you’ll know exactly why they cost what
they cost.
ISSUE 197
EQUIPMENT REVIEW

Ansuz Acoustics D2
range of components by Alan Sircom

lus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” On the face Actually, the reason we can do so

“P of it, Ansuz D2 remains the same high-performance

cable we tried in Issue 152, but it’s more about how
things have changed and how all the elements begin to
tie together is the point of this review. The use of D2 and
the ancillary parts all under the Ansuz banner is the second of three reviews in
a cycle; the first being the Børresen loudspeaker design and rounding things
off with the full Aavik electronics package. But each part of that chain works
many products in one review is there is
a commonality to design that makes so
much sense in context. The D2 cables
are all designed using the same ideas and
technologies throughout; it’s not as simple as
“the same cable throughout, just changing
connectors to define the use”, but neither
independently, and perhaps the one that weaves its magic first is Ansuz. It’s does the D2 apple fall far from the tree.
more than conceivable that someone might start with a few Ansuz products in Similarly, in the electronic components,
an entirely different system, and enjoy the experience so much that the system there are so many common concepts,
ends up a complete Aavik, Ansuz, Børresen system. Such is the impact of the what applies to one device applies just as
Ansuz family of products. readily to another. This also goes some way
Last time we tried D2 as a complete family, from mains lead through line- to explaining the ‘all roads lead to Rome’
level interconnect and digital cables right through to speaker cables. We hinted concept running through both Ansuz and the
at the Mainz8 D2 power distributor in that review and this is now brought up electronics and loudspeakers. Commonality
to speed with the latest versions of all these D2 products, plus a PowerBox of design need not mean lazy design and
D2 and the Power Switch D2 network switch. There is further to fall down it isn’t just a way of saving money by using
the Ansuz rabbit-hole with the whole Darkz resonator controls, and the new identical modules throughout. It isn’t even a
‘Rezonator’ platforms, but there are only so many products you can include visual tying together of a range (although, in
in one review! fairness, that is a bonus for some). Instead,

59 ISSUE 197

“The performance is defined by direct listener observation rather than
simply parroting the technobabble.”
in the really good equipment, commonality
of design criteria leads to commonality of
performance. That sounds a bit Maoist, and
should probably include something about
the joys of tractor production, but you get the
general drift; if all your ducks are in a row,
things work better.
However, Ansuz takes a similar approach
to companies like Kubala-Sosna and Tellurium
Q, playing down the design and materials of
the device, and asks the prospective buyer
to focus on the performance in terms of
sound and sound alone. OK, so there are
aspects of the package that get called out for
being notable, such as DGC (Direct Ground
Connector Technology), DIHC (Double
Inverted Helix Coil technology) and NSC
(Noise Suppressing Coil technology), but
these are not given much of an explanation
beyond the name itself. When it comes
to Dielectricum or the active Tesla Coil
technology, all bets are off.
EQUIPMENT REVIEW / ANSUZ ACOUSTICS D2
This, however, does give you a pretty basic understanding of what goes
under the Ansuz logos, and it’s all about the combination of mechanical
grounding and noise suppression. The further up the Ansuz line you go, the less
quarter the equipment and cables give to these important deleters of sound
quality. So, for example, it doesn’t really matter how the Tesla Coil technology
acts on the power wires, for example; all you need to know is they work to
cancel out mains spike noise. So, that arguably relies on a degree of trust
(whatever it is does what it is supposed to) but once again the proof is in the
listening, and by not paraphrasing too many lines of Star Trek technobabble,
Ansuz places the proof on the listening, which takes a ‘slightly’ different line
to many cable brands. The metallurgy, dielectric, and most other technical
specifications normally used to describe a cable are considered unimportant.
Instead, the performance is defined by direct listener observation, rather than
simply parroting the technobabble. It’s a laudable approach.... except when
you are trying to fill the page!
It also means step changes to cables like D2 are audible but not that easy
to discuss in terms of ‘what’s changed’. It’s interesting that I have been using
D2 cables and the Mainz8 and PowerBox for some time now, and the new
ones are an order of magnitude better. I couldn’t tell you why they are better in
terms of changes to the technology, but they are better.
The way these work is there are little flying leads coming out of the
grounding box on the cables. These connect to the Power Box, and the
61 ISSUE 197
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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / ANSUZ ACOUSTICS D2

“It just lets your system do what it was

PRICE AND CONTACT
always meant to do.” DETAILS
Mainz D2 power cable: £8,800/1m
Signalz RCA or XLR interconnect:
£12,000/1m pair
Digitalz D2 BNC-BNC digital
interconnect: £7,200/1m
Digitalz D2 Network digital interconnect:
£2,160/1m
Speakz loudspeaker cable:
£13,600/2m pair
Mainz8 D2 power conditioner: £8,000
PowerBox D2 active star earthing: £4,000
PowerSwitch D2 network switch: £5,360

Manufactuer: Ansuz Acoustics

PowerBox itself takes up one additional plug on the Mainz8, and it also works URL: ansuz-acoustics.com
as a star earth. Add in the PowerSwitch D2 to act as the disconnect between
all the noise of a network and your local audio system, and you have an UK Distributor: Auditorium Hi-Fi
extremely cogent system that works well. From here, there are still a lot more URL: auditoriumhifi.co.uk
things to work with, such as Darkz isolation feet and Sparkz harmonisers, but Tel: +44(0)753 949 9449
I’d argue we are already approaching Apex Ansuz.
The worry in any elaborate cable/power/network system is ‘overreach’.
You want a good cable system to reduce the load on your equipment, allowing
the bits of hardware – on which you allocated a lot of time, listening resources Interestingly, the degree of control you
and money – to do what you expected, without being influenced, transformed get over the sound when rigged from front
or in any other way jostled by the bits surrounding those components. Too to back with Ansuz D2 grade cables and
often a cable system adds its own imprint on the performance and while this components might make you re-evaluate
can often be very good and draw together an inconsistent performance, it’s your system. You might bring the speakers
often best if the good stuff lets the other good stuff do its good thing! That’s forward, to compensate for the extra bass
what the Ansuz system is there for; it just lets your system do what it was you are getting. You might also find what you
always meant to do. And in so doing, it makes you realise just how few cable thought was an effortlessly dynamic system
systems, mains and resonance control systems and network systems deliver was actually over-exuberance on the part
the same properties so consistently and without imprinteur. That being said, of the prior cables. In this latter case, you’ll
the Ansuz system does rely on a systemic approach; simply slotting one cable find the extra grip over the sound that Ansuz
into the system will give you some benefit and a taste of what the Ansuz sound brings beguiling, and that may ultimately
has to offer, but realistically it’s an all-or-nothing commitment. result in system changes to bring the sound
If you do jump into the Ansuz pool, what you first hear is just how much more in line with just how good D2 is. Which
bass is being held back by many systems. Power conditioners in particular leads us back to the beginning and where
sound a little more in the way compared to the Ansuz equipment. Sometimes Aavik and Børresen come into the mix.
that’s a good thing, if your power isn’t that clean to begin with. But if you Ansuz D2 is not the kind of system you
are fortunate to use a power conditioner solely for audio enhancement and can dip your toe into; it’s for orgies or total
not enhancement and power cleaning, the Mainz8 shows just how much abstinence... if you try it, try it as a complete
impact good mains has on the sound, getting under the music’s skin to system, and if you do, you may never go
produce a sound of great richness, clarity and depth, as well as a soundstage back. Ansuz’s D2 as a package is one of the
unattenuated by the system (in other words, what the recording engineer most cogent system upgrades money can
intended throughout). buy at this time.

63 ISSUE 197
With a sculpted aluminum frame and patented
IsoAcoustics integrated isolators, the Aperta Sub
introduces a new standard in acoustic isolation for
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Patented IsoAcoustics isolation also prevents the
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cabinet. Managing these reflections eliminates
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

McIntosh MHA200
headphone amplifier by Simon Lucas

f only ‘product density’ were a reliable measure of performance, this review In fact, we may as well start with ‘ins’

I of the new McIntosh MHA200 valve-driven headphone amplifier would be

over by now. After all, it’s a mere 146 × 156 × 232mm (h × w × d) and yet
tips the scales at a 4.8kg – so as far as ‘density’ goes, this headphone
amp takes some beating. And even if the stylised, tremendously assertive
and always magnificent ‘McIntosh’ logo was removed from the casework of
the MHA200 I’m confident it would still weigh in at over 4kg.
Sadly, given the deadline for this review is looming, ‘product density’ isn’t
and ‘outs’. On the rear panel are a choice
of inputs: a pair of unbalanced stereo
RCA sockets, and a pair of balanced XLR
connectors. There’s also ‘in’ and ‘out’ 3.5mm
connections for power/trigger control, and
a figure-of-eight socket for mains power.
These connections are all mounted in a shiny,
the be-all and end-all where performance is concerned. Instead it’s necessary reflective metal surface that’s undermined no
to plug the MHA200 into the mains – which at least gives us plenty of time to end by a couple of staunchly low-rent stickers
discuss the ins and out of this headphone amplifier while those tubes come – one confirming this is a 230v 50/60Hz
up to temperature. device, and the other carrying a serial number.

65 ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / MCINTOSH MHA200

The front panel, which is arranged as a kind of terrace, is of equally shiny The less interesting part of the top section
metal. On the upper-left section it’s home to a ‘load’ control, with which you of the MHA220 is taken up with transformers
impedance-match the MHA200 with your headphones – it’s a four-position and some rather gratuitous diagrams of the
switch, with 32, 100, 250 and 600 ohms values available. The McIntosh two output transformer and single power
instruction manual reassuringly suggests “there is no need to be exact”. transformer stages. The McIntosh’s output
Next to this control is a small red tell-tale light, which illuminates when the stage is a push/pull pure Class A triode, and
MHA200 is in ‘standby’ and goes out when it’s operational. Next in line is a the company is at pains to point out that
big ‘standby/on’ button, and then there’s a volume dial. This has a ‘unity gain’ this is the only headphone amplifier you can
position, which is indented in the centre of the dial’s travel, and that’s where buy with unity-coupled output transformers
you’ll leave it if your source machine has a variable output. Not for the first time and that push/pull configuration. McIntosh is
where McIntosh is concerned, this control has quite a lot more play in it than is guaranteeing 500mW of power for all loads,
ideal and while ‘knob feel’ is subjective (and sounds a little pervy), this doesn’t from 32 ohms to 600 ohms.
have the reassuring heft as might befit the MHA200’s price tag. That rather vague volume control aside,
Below here are a range of headphone outputs. There’s a left/right pair of nothing here seems flimsy or ill-fitting or in any
three-pin XLR plugs, a single 4-pin XLR Neutrik stereo output and a 6.3mm way suspect – but somehow the perceived
unbalanced stereo socket. value in strictly modern terms isn’t quite there.
It’s up top, though, where all the action, the visual drama and the aesthetic The shiny metal element of the casework, for
justification for a £2,795 price tag is to be found. Here’s where McIntosh has example, is a single piece that’s been folded
positioned the four green-glowing vacuum tubes that form part of the power numerous times to create the base of the
and drive of the MHA200 – a couple of 12AT7 valves are used in the driver MHA200 – but this method means there are
stage and two 12BH7s are used in the power stage. McIntosh positions them proud edges, and visible snips to facilitate the
inside a metal cage, but if you’re the sort of responsible adult who can use a fold. On the other hand, this too is a part of
headphone amplifier without burning yourself, then the cage is easily removed the McIntosh experience, and is remisncent
in order for the valves to be more readily admired. of classic American cars. Those who love the

66 ISSUE 197
 Pump It Up…

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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / MCINTOSH MHA200

“There’s an effortlessness to the McIntosh’s

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
sound that suits this material down to the
Type: Push-pull pure Class A triode
ground – it just rolls along.” headphone amplifier
Inputs: one stereo single-ended (via
RCA jacks); one stereo balanced
looks will not care about such things and the MHA200 feels sturdy and (as (via dual 3-pin XLR jacks)
I said) dense, even if you can’t use it to impress the carhop at the drive-in. Outputs: one stereo unbalanced
But I’ll tell you this much: hook up your MHA200 to a Cyrus CDi compact headphone output jack (via 6.3mm
disc player or Cambridge Audio Alva TT turntable at one end, and some Bang TRS-type headphone jack); one
& Olufsen HX or Rosson RAD-O headphones at the other (which is what I have stereo balanced headphone
done for the purposes of this test), and any grizzling about perceived value output jack (via 4-pin XLR Neutrik
starts to look (or, more accurately, sound) a bit childish. The MHA200 is a hell NC4MX headphone jack); one
of a headphone amplifier. stereo balanced headphone
The Ray Charles Story vol.1 [Atlantic] is a vinyl gift that keeps on giving, output (via dual 3-pin XLR
and when the McIntosh sinks its teeth in it basically sprouts wings and takes headphone jacks)
flight. The majority of the recordings on this LP are getting on for 70 years Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz
old, and the MHA200 doesn’t try to disguise that fact – instead it gives full Dynamic Range: 1dB (8 ohm load);
and joyful expression to the syncopated rhythms and endlessly characterful 1.3dB (4 ohm load)
vocals. There’s an effortlessness to the McIntosh’s sound that suits this Power Output: 500mW @ 32, 100, 250 or
material down to the ground – it just rolls along with well-judged momentum, 600 ohm load
keeps an extremely close eye on the detail and nuance in Brother Ray’s voice, Dimensions (H×W×D):
and smoothly integrates the scant backing elements into the picture at a 146 × 156 × 232mm
respectful distance. Weight: 4.8kg
A system that consists of the Cyrus player, MHA200, Rosson Audio Price: £2,795
Design RAD-0 (connected via 4-pin XLR) and a CD copy of Kraftwerk’s
Computerwelt [Kling Klang] makes the case for the McIntosh in even more Manufacturer: McIntosh Laboratory, Inc.
unambiguous terms. This set-up simply delivers, in full. The open, silent URL: mcintoshlabs.com
spaces of the recording are given just as much importance as the sounds,
and the remarkable variation in tonality and texture is expressed torrentially. The UK Distributor: Fine Sounds UK
straight-edged ‘boom-bap’ of the rhythms is described neatly – but, again, the URL: finesounds.uk
MHA200 has momentum to its presentation that makes even the chilliest, most Tel: +44 (0) 1592 744710
carefully mechanised rhythm utterly danceable. One can almost hear Afrika
Bambaataa scribbling down notes.
Low frequency extension is considerable here, but with little of the heat
or sponginess you might associate with valve-orientated equipment. The
opposite end of the frequency range is rolled off just fractionally, but there’s That cachet also means any review of
no loss of information as a result – just a mild sensation of good taste and the McIntosh MHA200 has to be on its own
decorum. Midrange balance and detail retrieval is as impressive as you’ll hear terms. If you’ve contrived to spend a great
from any alternative headphone amplifier at any price. And it all hangs together deal of money on a system that lacks top-
seamlessly – if your headphones are up to it, the MHA200 will impress, drawer headphone amplification, all you
entertain and impress again indefinitely. need to do is put a great deal more money
In a very real way, that ability to impress is a function of McIntosh with McIntosh’s way and you can enjoy as good
many of its products, and the MHA200 is no exception. Yes, you can point the a headphone experience as is currently
finger at the detailing of the finish or the feel of the remote, but those green-lit available – from a product the density of
valves and the big gothic McIntosh logo will side-step such criticisms ably. which turns out to be in proportion to the
There remains a pride of ownership surrounding McIntosh products – even opulence of its performance. In short, beauty
ones without blue-glowing VU meters – and that counts for a lot. is more than skin deep here.

68 ISSUE 197
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

MonoPulse Model SA
Active loudspeakers
by Alan Sircom

onoPulse has delivered a consistent and

M different, if small, range of loudspeakers for

most of the 21st Century. And during that
time, there have been few changes to the
line-up, but along the way Allan Hendry of
MonoPulse realised that the audio world is changing, and his
loudspeakers need to adapt to meet those changes.
That could sound a little bit apocalyptic, but MonoPulse
is also an extremely pragmatic little company. So, instead
of sacrificing its brand to make a range of new products to
suit the changes in the market, it has modified some of its
existing models, leaving listeners with the option to enjoy
MonoPulse speakers in their original guise, or in a new
wireless active sense. The listener can remain as trad or as
rad as they choose.
It’s easy to spot what remains the same. The Model SA
(slim, active) is essentially a Model S (slim) with an active
module or two. There is also a model SDA, which brings
biamplification to the table, and in the process delivers an
altogether meatier 200W per channel amplification in the
same form factor. There are a range of finishes, too: ten
different colour cloth finishes and a range of wooden top-
plates and plinths. A bit of a mix-up (entirely at our end) meant
that we received the black-on-black model for listening and
photography. This looks good in the flesh, with its matching
black leather logo, but can look like a series of big black blobs
on the page. As you read this, remember that MonoPulse
includes a lot of very fine colour options, many of which would
be far more photographically appealing than the sample we
chose. My apologies to all concerned.
The company has streamlined its range a little since we
last looked at the MonoPulse S in Issue 102. The larger Model
A and the Model S are both still current and both available
in active and passive versions. The stand-mount Model C is
no longer in production. What’s more is that review of the
MonoPulse S written by Paul Messenger in Issue 102 still
holds and holds here. The Model SA isn’t just ‘based’ on
the Model S; it is a Model S, but with the addition of a small
Bluetooth preamplifier and a matching power amplifier built

71 ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / MONOPULSE MODEL SA
“Installation is key to the MonoPulse sound, whether active or passive.
Spend time working on the height of the speaker relative to the listener.”
into the base of one of the loudspeakers. You get a remote
control (there’s an IR repeater pointing to the preamp’s remote
eye, so you don’t have to shine the remote at the rear of the
loudspeaker).
A quick recap of the MonoPulse S for those who don’t
have every issue of Hi-Fi+ to hand. It’s a slim, two-way stand-
mount design with a wraparound grille and a useful carry
handle on the rear to prevent damage to cloth or the drivers
beneath. As your hand naturally reaches for that handle, it’s
a useful addition that I wish more companies would consider
including. The S/SA both feature a 28mm silk-dome tweeter
72
partnered with a 160mm Kevlar-coned mid-bass driver.
MonoPulse uses what it calls an ‘asymmetric’ crossover,
where the tweeter sports a fourth-order crossover network
and a 24dB/octave slope from 3.5KHz, but the LF unit is
directly connected, to avoid crossover distortion. This is the
opposite to the minimalist first-order crossover that might
just have a lone component wired in with the bass driver.
However, this choice of network (which only uses film caps
and air-spaced coils) does give the minimum crossover
span across the frequency range and leaves the speaker
sounding extremely fast as a result. The S/SA are ported
bass reflex designs and that means they are best used a
little away from the walls. Furthermore, Hendry recommends
that as the low frequency unit is 75cm from the floor, try to
avoid the loudspeaker being 75cm from the side or rear
wall to avoid undue bass reflections. This is one of the few
times this important parameter gets a look-in, and for good
reason; he’s right!
MonoPulse also admits that few loudspeakers sit in
the optimum position in the optimum room, and if this
means excess bass, he can supply foam bungs (at no extra
charge) for listeners. MonoPulse also recommends trying
the loudspeakers further apart than usual. The floor-coupling
arrangement has changed to be more in keeping with the
overall style than the older outriggers. The plinth extends the
slim main body to 25cm square at the base, and carries the
base spike holders.
Installation is key to the MonoPulse sound, whether active
or passive. Spend time working on height of speaker relative
to the listener, and the distance from walls and from one
another, and experiment with the HF adjustment bridges on
the connector panel – decrease for those who listen loud or
increase for those who primarily enjoy a spot of late-night low
level listening. However, it’s not an easy on-the-fly adjustment.
The difference between S and SA is the inclusion of a
small off-the-shelf wireless streaming preamplifier (specifically
the Acrylic S10) and a small 2x50W Class D that looks all
the world like a Fosi Audio TPA3116. The preamp technically
could be used to stream via USB and wired Ethernet (it
supports DLNA NAS devices), but it’s a bit of a tight squeeze.
Set-up is no problem, and Acrylic’s iPhone/Android 4STREAM
app is fast and easy to use.
ISSUE 197
“You will have not heard anything else much like the
sound - except of course in live music.“ ORTHO ACOUSTIC
ABSOLUTE SOUND Background &
theory

view the full range of Larsen ortho acoustic speakers at audioemotion.co.uk

w: audioemotion.co.uk e: info@audioemotion.co.uk t: 01333 425 999

 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / MONOPULSE MODEL SA
“It is still a very quick-sounding and forward loudspeaker with excellent
leading-edge definition, and exceptionally good bass.”
This is a story in two acts, however. The first act is
about the MonoPulse itself. The sound quality of the SA
is more or less unchanged from our Issue 102 review. It is
still a very quick-sounding and forward loudspeaker with
excellent leading-edge definition, and exceptionally good
bass for a relatively compact loudspeaker. It’s not the most
neutral-sounding loudspeaker, and that forwardness can tip
into brightness when played loud. It also has a good, but
not outstanding, dynamic range, with a slight softening of
the most dynamic passages of an orchestra in full wig-out.
Nevertheless, these performance points are all within the
parameters of its similarly-priced rivals, and that super-fast
leading edge impressiveness does make the MonoPulse SA
sound very exciting.
Act two is with regard to the choice of electronics and
that ‘more or less’ part kicks in a bit here. The Class D power
amp in particular is surprisingly good in places, and helps
bring out that leading-edge definition still further, it also helps
emphasise and define that deep bass. But its rough edges
to cohere with some of the observations of the MonoPulse
sound too. Meaning the ability for the loudspeaker to soften
up at volume is met by a tendency for the power amp to add
a little extra grit at the same point. In fairness, though, the
two dove-tail more to the positive; and that makes for a very
cogent sounding active loudspeaker system, with a fine tonal
balance and some very enjoyable transient fun.
74
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Active floorstanding loudspeaker
Drive units: 160mm Kev;ar cone, 28mm silk dome
tweeter
Active amplifier: 50W Class D (200W for SDA version)
Measured frequency response (in-room far-field
averaged): 24Hz–20kHz ±6dB
Impedance (claimed): 8 ohms (nominal & minimum)
Impedance (measured): 8 ohms nominal, 4 ohms
minimum
Dimensions (W×H×D): 18 × 10 × 25 cm
Weight: 11kg
Price: £1,995/pair (as tested, Model S, £1,495/pr,
Model SDA, £2,395/pr)
Manufacturer: MonoPulse
URL: monopulse.co.uk
Tel: +44(0)7785 558238
The Acrylic S10 preamp is a good overall performer with
a DAC quality about on par with entry-point USB DACs. It’s
pretty easy to stream music from your phone (or even from
my Naim UnitiCore, although I somehow doubt anyone will
spend more on their NAS drive than they do on the whole
system). Where the S10 begins to show its affordability is in
its soundstage presentation, which is slightly foreshortened
especially in image depth. But, very much on the plus side,
it doesn’t sound harsh and that nasty ‘digital’ brashiness
sometimes associated with inexpensive digital replay systems
is conspicuous by its absence.
The SA is a clever way for MonoPulse to add more strings
to its bow. By adding a small preamp and power amp into the
mix, the SA extends its reach to a new generation of potential
MonoPulse users, and thanks to the thin and slim footprint
and the range of colour schemes – including ‘none more
black’ – I can see the loudspeaker being chosen for more
than just its sonic performance. The fact it gets that right too
with a direct and exciting sound with excellent bass is more
than just icing on the cake, though.
ISSUE 197
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THE BURMESTER B38: AN UNFORGETTABLE SOUND EXPERIENCE
The B38 loudspeakers are the latest addition to Burmester’s B-Series. This series is characterized by
its slim and timeless design, which integrates perfectly into any environment. Similar to the smaller
pair B18, the new B38 loudspeakers distinguish themselves through their three-dimensional stage
image and amazingly transparent sound.

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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

Quiescent Apex 40 coupler

and Peak loudspeaker
module by Kevin Fiske

roducts that aim to mitigate source; the speakers. The acoustic energy from them modulates ambient air

P the sonic damage being

done to audio reproduction
by electromagnetic and radio
frequency interference are
common. Not least because the latter is
a higher frequency version of the former.
However, there is a third corrupting
influence that is less frequently addressed.
It is microphony. Quiescent is one of the
few brands attempting to reduce EMI, RFI
and microphony.
If we leave aside micro-tremors from the
earth’s crust and from traffic, microphony
in our audio systems has the same primary
pressure against our eardrums, but it also vibrates our audio system too. Inside
most speaker cabinets, the crossover is bombarded by energy from the rear of
the speaker drivers. Meanwhile circuit boards in system components such as
amplifiers are effectively palpated by the modulated air in the room.
Those who paid attention at school will recall that physical energy applied
to a conducting material is converted to electrical energy. During normal
playback, our systems are processing not just the musical signal that we
want to hear but, electrical artefacts that we don’t want to hear. These travel
back down the speaker cables to the amplifier, and propagate from discrete
components such as capacitors in system separates. They become particularly
audible when contending fundamentals or harmonics beat against each other
to produce intermodulation distortion, typically heard as ringing.
Even if our audio system is powered through a filter or regenerator,
and even if we turn off everything electrical in the house and listen through

77 ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / QUIESCENT APEX 40/PEAK

“The Apex Speaker Module is a block of black anodised aluminium,

machined from billet, with no parallel faces.”

headphones, we still cannot escape radiated electrical energy and microphony. labyrinth prevents transmission either from
Audio separates, in particular digital devices, and some discrete components the speaker to the amplifier or vice versa.
too, are themselves active emitters even when simply passing an audio signal. The module also contains a passive electrical
Once EMI, RFI and microphony have entered the signal chain our costly wires network to burn off radiated RFI.
simply perform as conduits for the unwanted noise. I tried this early version of the Module
Quiescent has been ploughing something of a lone furrow in its focus in 2018, sceptical in the extreme, but in my
on EMI, RFI and microphony mitigation, and in particular on both prevention system, with two types of amplification and
and removal. The company’s approach is two-part: speaker, interconnect and three different speakers, the noise floor was
mains cable designs that resist mechanical excitation and which absorb EMI/ lowered, tonal density and timing cues were
RFI, plus passive devices — the company calls them Couplers and Modules enhanced, dynamic energy increased and
— that drain microphony, EMI and RFI. Quiescent is patenting globally the sound-staging improved. I bought the review
technology used in a new generation of Couplers and Modules, and invited pair and for over two years they were a key
this publication to be the first to try them. element in my system, allowing me to hear
The Apex Speaker Module is a block of black anodised aluminium, more deeply into recordings, and to discern
machined from billet, with no parallel faces and an acoustically disruptive milled more clearly how review kit performed.
pattern on the outside. It is about the size of a house brick, but weighs rather Quiescent’s revised Peak Speaker
more at some 4.5 kg. Two continuous lengths of solid silver conductor wire Module has the same form-factor and
run internally, starting at a pair of silver WBT binding posts and emerging at operational principle as before, but the
the other end as a length of captive speaker cable terminated in silver WBT labyrinth is now made from a composite of
bananas or spades. The first generation Module clamps the naked conductors granite, ceramic and a high-carbon polymer,
between two halves of a multi-directional, multi-length labyrinth formed of the latter material being the subject of the in-
ceramic. Designed to present a virtual black hole to acoustic energy, the process patenting. The company is opaque

78 ISSUE 197
 engineered
to push
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 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / QUIESCENT APEX 40/PEAK

“The new Apex 40 Couplers are not footers or supports as we might

understand the terms, but 3D printed shallow boxes.”

about the ratios of the three elements, and over what bandwidth the new about a very obvious reduction in the degree
Module works, except to assert that it is effective on microphony over a wider of damage being done to phase by the
range than before, and that the carbon polymer increases the bandwidth over review system’s non-DSP disk-to-speaker
which unwanted electro-magnetic energy is absorbed. audio chain.
The new Apex 40 Couplers are not footers or supports as we might The elephant in the room is of course
understand the terms, but 3D printed shallow boxes, overall a little less than cost. Using the Quiescent products in even
the size of two packets of playing cards laid side by side. Like the Modules their a simple system is not for the faint of heart
exterior is irregular with a deep acoustically disruptive pattern. They contain or shallow of wallet. It would take particular
the same tri-material and a passive RFI absorbing network. A sharply pointed bravery to put a pair of £4,500 Modules with
electrode on top allows the Couplers to drain acoustic vibration that would £1,000 floor standing speakers. Would the
otherwise cause microphony, and to terminate radiated electrical energy. result be at least £5,500 worth of sonic value?
Meanwhile, the Peak Speaker Modules were compared back-to-back However, in the context of the total RRP
with the previous model in my review system, placed between a Bryston 4B of the review system, the cost/benefit ratio of
Cubed stereo amplifier and PMC MB2se speakers. They brought a far-from- the Quiescent products can, in my view, be
subtle further lowering of the noise floor, the increase in dynamic headroom easily be justified; does it need to be said that
partnered by greater tonal density, and better focused spatial detail. Improved a 50% gain in sonic quality is not trivial?
intermodulation suppression tamed piano recordings that had previously been The most likely explanation for
teetering on the edge of offensively bright and ringy, while excessively sibilant Quiescent’s shyness over measurements
voices were calmed. Bass weight and definition also increased – a finding that is not that it hasn’t done any — come on,
Quiescent says results from even more unwanted artefacts being stripped from of course it has — but, probably correctly,
the signal chain leaving the amplification with less work to do. the company understands that expensive
The company says the Apex Couplers should be placed under a products like these are not bought by
component either side of the power supply with the third opposing, like customers on the basis of metrics, but of
a tripod. A firm press from above on the review system DAC enabled the audition. And that is the market model that
Couplers to make electrical contact with the chassis, and there was an Quiescent is now returning to after a three
immediate reduction in background hash, stridency and hissy sibilance. year dalliance with direct selling. Dealers
Further sets of Couplers were then added in turn under other components. who will carry demo stock and facilitate no-
The sonic gains were cumulative, particularly striking with the CD transport, risk in-home evaluation are being appointed
DAC, pre-amplifier and phono stage, slightly less so, but still very worthwhile, across the UK.
with the power amplifier and turntable power supply.
Fully equipped with Couplers and the Speaker Modules, the review
system, no slouch before, was transformed in every dimension, delivering
greater dynamic agility and power, tonal density and timing cues; in all posting
PRICE AND CONTACT
a quite remarkable cumulative uplift in performance that most listeners familiar
DETAILS
with the system put in the order of 50%. Apex 40 Couplers
Improvements in perceived timing were particularly noted, there being Price: £695 a set of three
a greater immediacy and drive that made complex, multilayered and Peak Speaker Modules
polyrhythmic programme easier to listen to and appreciate. It reminded me Price: from £4,490 a pair
of my ‘yikes, this is closer to live’ epiphany on first hearing a pair of Kii Three
speakers, phase-correct right across the audio band and thus able to deliver Manufacturer: Quiescent
more of the you-are-there experience. There’s no suggestion of equivalence URL: quiescent.co.uk
here; but by doing what they do do, the Modules and Couplers brought

80 ISSUE 197
 THE O-SERIES

SILVER SUPREME EDITION

“this does three extremely important

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Alan Sircom
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

AudioQuest Pearl 48,

Carbon 48, Dragon 48
HDMI cables
by Alan Sircom

O
ne of the things we are learning fast is when it comes to next-
gen digital audio, all things matter. And nothing is quite so
important as the link between streamer and DAC. A good
streamer is designed not only to act as the coordinator and
curator of both online and local networked music files, but also
as something of a bulwark to prevent the ingress of noise from those networks.
But even the best of them can only go so far, and however hard you try, the
connections between separate digital components can be beset by noise and
a good cable system can help knock that noise into touch.
Best of all, if you are using a link like HDMI, the recent move from
HDMI 2.0 to 2.1 (a move from 18gbps to 48gbps speed… thank you,
video engineering) means even the most basic cables have taken a
marked step forward in radio-frequency noise abatement. I’m not sure
how AudioQuest will take this in the context of a review of AudioQuest
HDMI cables, but if you have a mid-range HDMI from the previous
line (say, Cinnamon), a low-cost generic HDMI 2.1 cable from
Amazon will likely show it a clean set of heels. All of which means
that unless you had some really super spiffy HDMI cable from a
few years ago, it’s probably time to re-evaluate your cabling.
The three AudioQuest 8K-10K Ultra High Speed HDMI
cables I looked at here are the entry-model, the middle and
the top of an eight strong range (with the top three models
– Vodka, ThunderBird and Dragon – also come in eARC
versions where the video conductors are tweaked for
ARC-compatible devices). These are essentially similar
to previous iterations of Pearl, Carbon and Dragon, but
built to even tighter tolerances and precision to meet
and exceed the HDMI 2.1 standard. The difference
between good, better and best with AudioQuest
falls largely to the nature of the conductor and
the degree of noise dissipation. Pearl 48 uses
19 long-grain copper conductors internally and
ensures their layout is ‘direction controlled’ so
noise be directed away from the electronics.
As the name suggests, Carbon 48 inserts
a layer of high-loss carbon between the

83 ISSUE 197
 EQUIPMENT REVIEW / AUDIOQUEST PEARL 48, CARBON 48, DRAGON 48

“Take the AQ element out of this and compare a generic 4K and 8K

cable, and you will hear distinct improvements to the system.”

conductors, which also have raised their game to be 5% silver-plated copper.

This construction adds to the noise dissipation. Finally, Dragon 48 raises PRICE AND CONTACT
the bar yet higher, opting for pure silver ‘Perfect Surface’ conductors, adds DETAILS
graphene to that carbon layer sandwiched between the conductors, and then
Pearl 48 HDMI: £49/2m (as tested)
adds AudioQuest’s 72V DBS (Dielectric Bias System) to really see off virtually
Carbon 48 HDMI: £269/2m (as tested)
the last scintilla of RF noise in the signal path.
Dragon 48 HDMI: £2,899/2m (as tested)
Part of the reason I like HDMI as a digital connection is its flexibility; not only
is it connector of choice for I2S systems, with HDMI and especially ‘8K-10K’
Manufacturer: AudioQuest
Ultra High Speed HDMI there is sufficient bandwidth to pass signal, timing and
URL: audioquest.com
data handshake information between devices using a single HDMI cable. For
Tel: +44(0)1249 848873
example, hooking up a few of AURALiC’s top 2.1 components is easy because
they use HDMI throughout for the company’s internal ‘iLink’ connections; the
complete ARIES G2.1 streamer, SIRIUS G2.1 upsampler, LEO GX.1 clock and
VEGA G2.1 DAC require just three HDMI cables between them. structure of the instruments in the mix right
Back to the review. As I said, it started with the comparison between into the forefront of the sound.
generic 4K HDMI, last-generation AudioQuest Cinnamon and a more recent Then you try Dragon 48 and realise
no-name 8K HDMI found on Amazon, all through the aforementioned AURALiC Carbon 48 is merely an introduction to
digital duo. Cinnamon showed just how the generic 4k cable sounded uneven really high-grade performance. Now, you
and ‘blotchy’; while the tonality remained unchanged, the overall sound didn’t get a greater sense of dimensionality to the
grab you and its unevenness left the system sounding a bit ‘meh’. However, soundstage, a significantly improved solidity
the more immediate and precise Cinnamon was met with a near-identical to that stage, a complete absence of digital
performance from the generic 8K cable, which proved to be something of ‘hash’ sound that was rendered almost non-
a pleasant surprise. Here’s the thing; take the AQ element out of this and existent way back in listening to Pearl 48 but
compare a generic 4K and 8K cable, and you will hear distinct improvements is fully realised here. Most of all, the sense
to the system. No big-name brands, no magic unguents rubbed into the more of cohesiveness and coherence that the
upmarket cable, just a gentle reminder that there is a lot more to streaming AURALiC is so good at revealing is taken
audio than ‘bits is bits’. to a new level. Music is just that bit more
The revelations came thick and fast from here. Pearl 48 sounded so much intimate, with the electronics seeming less in
better than either the last generation Cinnamon or the generic 8K cable that the way, and the whole concept of a noise
it was almost giggle-inducing. Once again, it’s a sense of the music coming floor becomes a little bit academic at best.
more into focus and making the resultant sound more exciting and enthralling; Musically speaking, the jump from
listening to Donny Hathaway Live [Atlantic] through the generic cable made generic 8K to Pearl 48 is marked. The jump
him sound like a good soul singer, but through Pearl 48, you realised why from Pearl 48 to Carbon 48 is noticeable
he’s considered one of the finest musicians of his generation. Listening to and worthwhile, but the step up to Dragon
him through Carbon 48 makes you understand why he owned songs like 48 is so marked, there’s no going back.
‘Jealous Guy’ and ‘You’ve Got A Friend’, as there is more of a real, living What’s more, if you are one of AURALiC’s
musician sitting in between the loudspeakers. Once again, the AudioQuest users with at least two of the company’s
cables impart a ‘first, do no harm’ approach to the sound that doesn’t change G2.1 series on your shelves, you need
the overall balance of the AURALiC system. However, the move from Pearl 48 AudioQuest Dragon 48 in your life. What are
to Carbon 48 opens out the soundstage but brings the detail and harmonic you waiting for?

84 ISSUE 197
 THE PERFECT TURNTABLE
Just like children, it should be seen... but not heard
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The delicate cartridge/stylus extracts the music. Any jostling, however slight, degrades the signal. It can then never be restored.
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EQUIPMENT REVIEW

Neederland TrueStand
unibody headphone stand
by Alan Sircom

eadphone stands traditionally fall into one of

H three types: head-shaped, an inverted-T and a

table clamp. Each has its merits and demerits;
for example, the recycled glass head can look
great, but if you have a lot of headphones, they
take up a lot of space and it can look like you are playing
music to the severed heads of your enemies. The TrueStand
by Neederland is one of the rare exceptions.
It’s a recognition that most people pick up headphones by
the headband, rather than opening the headphones from the
earcups out. By making a figure-of-eight CNC-milled rounded
hole in an aluminium unibody with a vegan leather foam inner
to both protect the headphones cups and help the headphone
sit in the stand itself. Note: ‘vegan leather foam’ means
‘foamed pleather’ rather than culling vegans for their pelts,
even if vegan skin is often soft and flexible thanks to all the
avocados. There is a small hole in the base of the TrueStand pushing them into the path of a part-filled – and soon to be
to prevent fouling a cable strain-relief at the headphone end, floor-bound – coffee cup (we’ve all done it).
but as so many use wireless headphones today, those without With something like a stand, obviously any discussions
a trailing cable will just like the elegance of the design. It’s also of performance are somewhat limited: it either holds a pair
easy to clean; you can even wash the TrueStand under the tap of headphones well, or it doesn’t. It either sits in place, or it
if your personal oils and greases get too caked-on. doesn’t. It either looks good, or it doesn’t. Fortunately, the
The joy of the Neederland TrueStand is it reduces the TrueStand ticks all three boxes very well indeed. Even the
influence of the Personal Audio Poltergeist. Let’s be honest; looks… It is very close to an exact colour match for my Space
everyone who has used a table clamp headphone rest has Grey Mac Book Pro; very zeitgeisty for today’s desktops.
slammed their hip into it at one point, sending headphone There’s a lot to like about the Neederland TrueStand,
and stand in different, floor-bound directions… blame the and it has become a perma-resident on my desktop. That’s
poltergeist. If that is a wired headphone plugged into your possibly not much saying as my desk currently looks like an
computer, there’s a risk of true work-related chaos ensuing. explosion in a recycling plant, but a little headphone order in
Having a tidy headphone holder on your desk makes such all that chaos helps a lot.
visits by said poltergeist less frequent. Best of all, because the
shape is uniquely headphone earcup shaped, the TrueStand
it’s unlikely to end up an accidental store of pens and
staple-guns and the rest. The ‘nano-suction feet’ that help
PRICE AND CONTACT DETAILS
the Neederland cling to any desktop make a great deal of TrueStand: £67
sense, too. That poltergeist likes a free-moving base that will
move around the table like it’s on roller-skates; by locking the Manufacturer: Neederland
TrueStsand in place without it being physically glued to the URL: neederland.com
tabletop, reaching for a pair of headphones doesn’t end up

87 ISSUE 197
 “Cymbals get
more texture
and definition
in the attack”

pictures courtesy of byrnecymbals.com

supercapacitor linear power supplies

www.faradpowersupplies.com
MEET YOUR MAKER
Crystal Cable/Siltech
by Alan Sircom
e’ve all been through
W some ‘odd’ times
recently, but perhaps
few companies in
audio had
so ‘interesting’ a time as Crystal Cable.
quite
Essentially still a family business, Crystal
Cable and Siltech operate from the same
factory in the Netherlands, although what
could be thought of as the matriarch of that
family took a sabbatical to reignite their piano
playing career unfortunately that coincided
with the pandemic, there was a significant
management restructure, new lines, a return
to closer family ties, and more.
We spoke to Gabi and Edwin Rynveld of
International Audio Holding BV – the company
behind the brands – about that year, the
family business… and what happens next!
Crystal Cable went through some changes recently. What happened?
Gabi: Crystal Cable is a very strong brand name associated with very special
audio cables, amplifiers, and loudspeakers. The products are famous for their
surprising, artistic design.
As the brand enjoys strong growth, we decided to differentiate the various
product categories such as loudspeakers and electronics. The brand name
Crystal Connect has been added and is now used for new product lines.
It is similar to what car manufacturers did in the past (Daimler-Benz
Mercedes-Benz) or Apple (Macintosh, MAC, Apple).
Gabi, after a year off, are you back for good, or do you plan to restart
piano recitals once the concert halls are back open?
Gabi: My sabbatical year and the pandemic trouble were simply a coincidence.
During last year (2020), I took time to go back to the piano, worked on new CD
recordings, and also kept in touch with our industry friends.
However, in early 2021, after the management reorganization of IAH
(International Audio Holding), I have gladly returned to the family business
leading the PR, Sales, and Marketing team for Siltech and CrystalConnect –
by Crystal Cable.
89 ISSUE 197
MEET YOUR MAKER / CRYSTAL CABLE/SILTECH

What products are retained from the

original lines (cables and electronics)?
Edwin: All our famous products are still
there including cables lines, portable cables,
loudspeakers, and electronics.
For CrystalConnect – by Crystal Cable,
the Dream series will phase out and be
available while stocks last.
As for Siltech, the Classic Anniversary
products will be replaced by the new
revolutionary Classic Legend series.

How has the connection between

Crystal and Siltech changed?
Edwin: The connection between our two
brands remains unchanged. Both Siltech
and CrystalConnect are fully owned by
International Audio Holding BV, registered in
Amsterdam.
All production takes place in our own
recently extended factory based in Elst, The
Netherlands.

Is the company even more of a family

business today? How?
Gabi: As CEO, Founder and Chief Engineer,
Edwin is leading International Audio Holding.
Our son Viktor de Leeuw has been
IAH’s Operations Director for more than four
years now. He is managing the day-to-day
operations, as well as the busy production
unit, and helps in shaping the future strategy
of the business. Organising the extension
of our factory, implementing the new ERP
system, and financial processes also fell
under his responsibilities.
His younger brother, Peter joined the
Sales and Marketing Team in late 2020. He
builds and maintains relationships with our
company’s partners and anticipates new
business opportunities.

How has COVID-19 affected your

business?
Edwin: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic
period, production has continued without
any  hiccups. However, to accommodate
current growth and cover for the potential

90 ISSUE 197
91 ISSUE 197
 MEET YOUR MAKER / CRYSTAL CABLE/SILTECH

risk of staff falling ill, more staff were added in 2020 and 2021. We had to What’s next for both companies?
take some preventative measures to reduce infection risk; some of the staff Edwin: Siltech’s most important product
work from home, the production team works in shifts, lunch breaks are split is its factory and people. Without this
into teams, etc. But with the vaccination rate growing, we are expecting to be unique high-end manufacturing and R&D
fully operational by the end of this summer. resource, it would not be possible for us
to keep challenging to be the world’s best.
Do you see changes in the market, both for your brands and in It goes without saying, we’re proud of our
general? current team of engineers; they do have
Edwin: Well, superclass audio is a league of its own. Our business is numerous innovative ideas for new sound-
characterized by a mix of old and new: traditional mechanical-based techniques related products. In addition to our internal
– like record players, tape decks, and loudspeakers – mixed with digital amps resources, we are also looking for a strategic
and practical great technologies – like streaming. alliance with an electronics production
Wireless technologies are added for convenience. Cables make sure all company.
equipment is working together best. Equally important, in order to put more
ideas into practice, the research department
Where do you see the company in 10 years’ time? has to grow further.
Edwin: In the last two years, we doubled our factory real estate as well as At the moment, we have a specialized
our staff to accommodate for our expected growth. The new extended space engineer with a Ph.D. in this, in Applied
allowed us to develop a far bigger laboratory with great research capabilities. Science, he is especially developing the
The fundamental research, started in 2006, can now grow substantially magnetic properties of our cables. Other
with the more advanced tools. All of these factors combined lead to discoveries engineers are specialized in insulation
in material science and practical implementations. Consequently, discoveries techniques.
lead to better sound, more advanced products, and increased sales. Gabi: Our specialists have a possibility of
We are currently working on detailed plans and investment options for using more than 200  pieces of electronic
doubling our business in five years. equipment and approximately 40  optical
measurement devices that we use in a
What products are new from both brands? couple of magnetic analysis equipment
Gabi: Crystal Connect Art Series and Siltech Classic Legend Series. available in our company. So, we are highly
The Art Series products are the most advanced Crystal cables ever made specialized, we use the best equipment
pushing the limits on sound quality. This series represents a step-change available in the world because we want to
in materials, technology, construction, and offers three levels of musical prove what a cable does.
performance – starting with Monet, then van Gogh, and finally, the flagship da Every aspect of production is done in-
Vinci cables. With each Art Series range named after an artist who set new house to the very finest quality and detail
artistic expression standards, we are emphasizing the close connection shared possible. Our purpose-designed and built
by all forms of art be it musical or visual. factory combines manufacturing, warehousing,
Edwin: The Siltech Classic Legend is just introduced, and the most advanced product design and development, alongside
Classic series ever made. It adopts the latest generation of silver-gold alloy research laboratories and dedicated listening
metallurgy called G9 and a multilayer Dupont insulation, surpassing all facilities. In the near future, further production
techniques previously used. Classic Legend offers three different models capacity is necessary because the business is
within the series: 380, 680, and 880. The line includes interconnects, speaker, growing at a fast pace.
digital, and power cables. The new G9 silver-gold conductors, the revolutionary With all the above answers, we want to
3-layer high-tech insulation together with the improved super silent shielding emphasize that cables are arguably the most
increase the already superior quality that audiophiles have come to expect from important part of a high-end audio system.
our cables. All of these innovations result in a superbly resolved sound with a The quality of all our products is measurable,
smooth, balanced tonality, and exceptional stereo imaging properties. audible, and explainable.

92 ISSUE 197
 See the review
in Hi-fi+ issue 187,

The Amplifier: Re-Imagined Sept 2020

So here we have a comparative rarity, a genuinely ‘Moor Amps have built a stunning power amp
powerful pre-power combination that gets out of its own in the Angel-6 ... it’s infinitely more sophisticated
way and just delivers the music. Steve Dickinson – Hi-fi+ than it looks’ Jason Kennedy, The Ear

To hear our Amplifiers for yourself, contact:

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(UK) LLP www.mooramps.co.uk
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+44 (0) 161 766 4837 +44 (0) 1392 491194 +46(0)70-590 12 75 +44(0)1323 870485

93 ISSUE 197
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95 ISSUE 197
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96 ISSUE 197
MUSIC FEATURE

How to fall in love with

classical music (part two)
by Branko Bozic

o begin with, I have to report a small change of plan relative to My personal rule No.1 is to decide

T the original idea of this, second part of our abbreviated entry into
the world of classical music. Originally, I considered suggesting
a selection of CD (or LP, if you can find them!) box sets that
would, through a portrait of a single artist, give an exemplary
cross selection of many classical music pieces of different type and form. If
you look at this month’s list of selected titles, you will still see a few of those,
but the rest ended up being something much more complete, more suitable
(as firmly as I can before excitement and
adequately obsessive filling of the shopping
basket gets out of hand) my allegiance to the
most acclaimed and respected record labels,
such as Deutsche Grammophon, Decca,
RCA, Sony, Mercury, Erato, Columbia. EMI
and, by no means least, Naxos (may be a
and far more useful for the ultimate intended purpose. I am referring to the bargain basement, but plenty of excellent
multiple CD box sets giving excellent portraits of a record label, rather than just performers and renderings of almost every
a single artist/performer. When a record label chooses to show off its recording meaningful classic music piece recorded).
activities over many years, there is no other way of covering successfully the You may think these labels offer a relatively
journey through the complete history of classical music, but to include a wide limited choice compared to everything that
variety of performers, composers and their work in one collection. And that, I has been recorded and released over the
do believe, is ideal for sampling everything an intrigued or interested (audiophile past 30–40 years, but you would be wrong.
or not) newcomer to the world of classical music could wish for. Before you know, you will be confronted with
Box set releases have become increasingly present in recent years for far too many choices of equally appealing
several reasons. First and foremost, sets of 30, 40 or 50 compact discs, and tempting CD box sets from each of the
beautifully presented and often in original release sleeves, plus a specially mentioned labels! And here is where one
written book to accompany the music with all the relevant data and stories, needs to be prudent, patient and take time to
require no new or additional investment from the label – all material already look critically at the actual contents of the set
exists and, in many cases, is also past any royalty timescales and similar and each disc in order to establish as best
costly contractual obligations performing artists may have had included in their as possible which of the musical pieces may
recording agreements. Further, such box sets are of huge financial benefit to
the consumer as they retail at vastly lower overall cost per CD therein, than
what each of them would have cost if purchased separately at the time of
the original release. Don’t be surprised if you realise you would be paying just
a couple of Pounds, Dollars or Euros per CD in any of the suggested box
set packages.
Most importantly, do not think that because it may be a compilation or a
re-release, the sound quality of the material included would be substandard or
inadequate in any way whatsoever! Quite to the contrary in most cases. Why?
Because most of the recorded material in the box sets has been carefully
listened to (whenever possible, even from the original master tapes) and then
remastered in a manner that improves the overall fidelity of the recording
without taking away any of the positive qualities of the original.
So, how do we go sightseeing within the realms of Amazon or Discogs, to
name just a couple of established internet sales platforms in terms of selection
and availability of classical box sets?

97 ISSUE 197
 MUSIC FEATURE / HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC

be repeating themselves within different compilations (box sets). It does not

• Decca Sound – The Analogue
happen much and often, but still... it’s good to know in order to get as much
Years – 50 CDs (2013)
different and diverse music in each set.
• The Decca Sound – 50 CDs (2016)
Another good rule of thumb with box sets is not to treat them as a single
• Mercury Living Presence Vol.1
title or album, but looking at the contents of each disc, and adopt them exactly
(Decca Box Set) – 50 CDs (2012);
as those putting them together wanted you to – as a collection of as many
6 LP Box Set (2012)
individual albums as there may be in the set, that are to be savoured and
• Mercury Living Presence Vol. 2
listened to as and when any of them may particularly appeal or tickle your
(Decca Box Set) – 55 CDs (2013);
interest. A little bit of Beethoven today and, perhaps, another serving of Bach
6 LP Box Set (2013)
or Stravinsky next week? No problem, it is all there for you at any time of your
• Mercury Living Presence Vol. 3
mood and convenience!
(Decca Box Set) – 53 CDs (2015);
A few more words about the sound quality of box sets in general. As
6 LP Box Set (2015)
we know, the contents of each collection would have been chosen by the
• Rca Living Stereo – The
artistic management of the record label, the main goal being to cover the whole
Remastered Collector’s Edition –
spectrum of classical music opus from its earliest till contemporary days. Which,
60 CDs (2016)
by default, means that it must exploit their complete archives of recorded
• Philips Classics “The Stereo Years”
material over a very long period of time. In practical terms, it means you will
– 50 CDs (2015)
find recordings tend to span from mid-50’s of the past century until only a few
• Claudio Abbado (Conductor) –
years ago. And, of course, they will sound quite different (I deliberately did not
Complete DG & Decca Recordings
use attributes such as ‘better’ or ‘worse’) relative to each other. It should not
– 46 CDs (2021)
be difficult to understand why – different recording locations, different recording
• Riccardo Muti (Conductor) –
processes (analogue or digital), different producers, different everything.
Complete Warner Symphonic
Thankfully, what ends up in a good box set is almost without exception of
Recordings – 90CDs (2021)
very good, excellent, or exemplary sound as well and, on top of providing an
• Sir Colin Davis (Conductor) –
educational insight into the world and history of classical music, will please
The Philips Years (Decca Box Set) –
many audiophiles inside ourselves as a bonus. But, be objective and fair, and
15 CDs (2013)
do not expect every single CD from a box set, or every single track (when a
• 100 Great Symphonies (Limited
single CD may be a compilation of various compositions played by different
Edition) – Deutsche Grammophon
artists) to be “sonically perfect” (whatever that is supposed to mean). Box
– 52 CDs (2014)
sets are the best guided tour you may want to embark on or to facilitate your
• Great Opera (Naxos Box Set) –
“thumbs up or down” in terms of your potential allegiance to classical music.
10 CDs (2012)
No more and no less. And, if you decided to stay in the world of “classical” to
• The Verdi Collection (Riccardo Muti)
be a portfolio of appetizers leading you towards individual albums of pieces or
– 29CDs + Dvd Documentary (2016)
artists you ended up liking.
Have a look at the list accompanying the words for this instalment of
our journey and feel free to expand on it, explore the web for more and
different. I do hope you find it useful and interesting enough to give some of it
a go. Enjoy!

98 ISSUE 197
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0207 487 4080
www.audiolounge.co.uk
Art & Sound
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99 ISSUE 197
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100 ISSUE 197

MUSIC INTERVIEW

John
Murry
by Sean Hannam

hen it comes to making Mooney gave the confessional and intimate songs a warm, symphonic feel

W albums, US singer-
songwriter John Murry
hasn’t had an easy
time of it.
His 2012 debut solo record, the
astonishing and critically acclaimed, The
Graceless Age, was produced by his friend,
Tim Mooney of American Music Club, who
died before the album was released.
One of its highlights, the epic ‘Little
Coloured Balloons’, documented Murry’s near-
fatal overdose on heroin in San Francisco.
at times, but also created unsettling moments and rich, sonic textures, with
layered sounds, samples, snippets of conversations, lush string arrangements,
keys, pedal steel and fuzzed-up guitars.
In a five-star review of The Graceless Age, The Guardian said it was ‘a
profound and moving meditation – the kind of album that answers questions
you didn’t realise you were asking.’
Its follow-up, the raw, stripped-down and much looser, A Short History of
Decay, which was overseen by Michael Timmins from the Cowboy Junkies,
didn’t arrive until five years later, but was recorded in the wake of Murry’s
marriage breaking up.
Now he’s back with his third album, The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes, but
this time around, he’s in a much better place – kind of…

101 ISSUE 197

 MUSIC INTERVIEW / JOHN MURRY

“As he says in the press release that accompanies promo copies of the
new album, ‘I think a lot of what we call contentment is delusional’.”

but also not without its fair share of black

humour.
It opens with the funky dub-meets-
country groove of ‘Oscar Wilde (Came Here
To Make Fun Of You’) – an infectious pop
song that’s subverted with a disturbing lyric
that references the Oklahoma City bombing.
The startling and moody title track, which
starts with the lines “Of course I’d die for
you. You’d watch me, wouldn’t you?” rides
on a wave of heavy, fuzzed-up guitars, over
which Murry tells us he’s been made in God’s
image: “Born to die – to take love songs and
crucify ‘em.”
‘Di Kreutser Sonata’ is a sparse ballad
with haunting pedal steel guitar, which finds
Murry “stuck somewhere between a memory
and a dream,” and wrestling with issues from
his adopted family upbringing.
‘I Refuse To Believe You Could Love Me’
has a New Wave / garage-rock feel, and the
atmospheric ‘Ones + Zeros’ is based on a
pretty piano line and features guest vocals
from singer-songwriter, Nadine Khouri.
Murry also throws in an inspired, spacey
and psychedelic cover version of Duran
Duran’s ‘90s comeback single, ‘Ordinary
World’, which is driven by a throbbing
bassline and electric piano – both are played
by Bristol-based musician, John Parish, who
produced the album.
Murry and he first met in 2013, at a UK
music festival, in Winchester, where they
were both playing on the same bill.
Parish had worked on a lot of Murry’s
“I’m alright, but I’ve just had two teeth pulled out,” he tells me, speaking favourite records, including albums by
on a Zoom call from Dublin. PJ Harvey, Eels and Sparklehorse / Mark
Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Murry relocated to Ireland six years ago, where Linkous.
he’s said to have enjoyed a period of relative stability, but, as he says in the They got chatting and then Parish went
press release which accompanies promo copies of the new album, “I think a to some of Murry’s shows in Bristol.
lot of what we call contentment is delusional.” “We’d been talking about doing a record
The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes, like the two albums that came before together for about seven or eight years,”
it, is a surprising, brilliant and inventive record – rough and raw, dark at times, says Murry.

102 ISSUE 197

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103 ISSUE 197

 MUSIC INTERVIEW / JOHN MURRY

“I don’t think there’s anything gratuitous about going into an analogue

studio, as there’s so few of them left in the world.”

“It takes money to make records – to have the ability to go into a studio Nowadays, if you’re expecting to get by
and to have access to all the gear and people. I had a budget for it, and it was or do well from making music, you’d be an
enough for us to make an interesting record.” idiot. I wanted to make a record that I wanted
Work on the album started in late 2019 and it was finished at the start of to listen to – for a long time it was difficult
last year. for me.
The recording sessions took place at the legendary Rockfield Studios,
in Monmouthshire, Wales – previous visitors have included Queen, Black Your first album, The Graceless Age,
Sabbath, Motörhead, Oasis, Coldplay and The Stone Roses. was so acclaimed. Have you always
At Rockfield, there are two studios, the Coach House and the Quadrangle, felt pressure to follow it up? Was it an
which are both used for digital and analogue recording. albatross around your neck?
“There was an amazing vibe in Rockfield – John set it up so we could do Yes – I think other people have a relationship
an analogue record, and then we mixed it and did some overdubs in Bristol,” with that record that isn’t the same as the
says Murry. one I have. My best friend [Tim Mooney] and
“I don’t think there’s anything gratuitous about going into an analogue I made that record, and he’s dead. There are
studio, as there’s so few of them left in the world.” reasons why it’s difficult for me to listen to
it, which are maybe the same reasons why
SH: What was the recording process like and how was it working with other people are attracted to it. That’s okay,
John Parish? but it’s difficult.
JM: It was interesting – I’ve never made a record like that before. Until recently, it’s been difficult for me to
It was uncomfortable and nerve-wracking to begin with, because I didn’t conceptualise performing those songs live –
know where we were going. it’s as if they’re kind of a living force. I know
It was like, ‘I don’t know what the f***’s going on, or if this is even a record,’ that sounds dark, but it felt like it was almost
but then suddenly, he played me stuff back and it worked – we did more and in honour of the record – Tim died two weeks
more stuff in an uninhibited way, without thinking about it. before it came out. Over time, I became
It was like we were both trying to figure each other out the whole time – almost resentful of its existence.
that process created the record. I didn’t have a lot of the songs finished – I just
wanted to bring them in and see what happened. Some of the songs on the new album,
There aren’t a whole lot of players on the record, but the engineers got like the title track, and the first single,
involved and became musicians – it was great fun. I roped [engineer] Joe Jones ‘Oscar Wilde (Came Here To Make Fun
in to come back to Bristol after Rockfield to play with the tapes and make some Of You’) have been around for a while,
loops. John has an incredible ability to create a collaborative process and space. haven’t they? You’ve been performing
them live over the past few years…
You’ve made three solo albums – all with different producers: Tim Michael Timmins and I left the song ‘The
Mooney, Michael Timmins and now John Parish. Has it been a Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes’ off the last
different process each time and, if so, how? record, because it didn’t work sonically within
There’s one thing they all have in common, which is a way of dealing with the context of it.
another person’s hysteria. They can tolerate and embrace what’s truly weird I like ‘Oscar Wilde’, but it’s always
about someone and encourage it, but also rein it in. They create an environment bothered me – I felt like I couldn’t finish it. It
where you can trust them. didn’t work. I’ve played with different ways
With John, I could let go and see where we went. What kind of a maniac of doing it – with just an acoustic guitar, or
tries to earn a living by making a record? Especially someone like me. You must more grandiose, like the Dylan outtake, ‘Red
be vaguely self-destructive. I’ve heard Ry Cooder say similar things. River Shore.’

104 ISSUE 197

105 ISSUE 197
 MUSIC INTERVIEW / JOHN MURRY
When I did it with John, he just started
playing a beat – I wanted something like
the D’Angelo song ‘1000 Deaths’, from the
album Black Messiah. He said, ‘Oh, I’ve been
wanting to do that forever!’ The song came
back to life.
The third single, ‘I Refuse To Believe
You Could Love Me’, has a kind of
garage-rock feel – it’s very loose…
I wanted to make a record by The Cars –
I love Ric Ocasek – that’s what I was going
for. I wrote it when I was at Luke Oldfield’s
studio [Tilehouse, in Buckinghamshire] – he’s
Mike Oldfield’s son.
There’s a guitar bit at the end, which was
me trying to do the Pixies’ ‘Wave of Mutilation
(UK Surf)’ version, but I didn’t know that at
the time – it suddenly hit me.
There’s some great piano on ‘Ones +
Zeros…’
Thank you for saying that – that’s me on
piano. I said to John Parish, ‘Man – I’m really
sorry, but this sounds like Coldplay!’ He said,
‘That’s funny because Chris Martin played
that piano.’
Do you think there’s a theme to this
album?
I think it has an arc – I wanted it to have
some continuity and to be more playful – to
be less dark.
“I wrote it when I was at Luke Oldfield’s
studio [Tilehouse, in Buckinghamshire] –
he’s Mike Oldfield’s son.”
I think it’s dark lyrically, but, musically, it’s lighter than your previous
records.
The guitar sound on [the song] ‘The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes’ is heavy, but
it’s not dark – the lyrics are incredibly dark.
The guitars are kind of a real Motörhead thing.
I think that song sounds similar to the sound of your previous
album…
That record was almost sonically thematic and sounds like Mike did it. This
record sounds like John did it.
There’s some great pedal steel on the new album, played by Joe
Harvey-Whyte of The Hanging Stars…
Joe’s a genius – I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. Everything he does is
interesting. It has nothing to do with the instrument – it’s just the way he looks
at music and creates it.
Your friend, singer-songwriter, Nadine Khouri, sings on ‘Oscar Wilde
(Came Here To Make Fun Of You’) and some of the other songs on
the record…
That was a serendipitous thing – John and I were talking about getting
someone to sing on it. He suggested Nadine – it was perfect. I’d forgotten
that they’d worked together. She came in and she was incredible.
You’ve covered Duran Duran’s ‘Ordinary World.’ Are you a big fan?
I love Duran Duran – it was written when Simon Le Bon went to a grocery store
and realised the glory days were over. To me, the lyrics always had depth.
When I was in first grade, I thought the song was incredible – the production
is really strange. I like to do a cover on every record – John Parish thought it
was a great idea.
He plays a Led Zeppelin-like bassline on it – it’s got a drony vibe and it
keeps pulling you back in. I’ve heard there are complaints when people change
a Duran Duran bassline – I think John has broken the cardinal rule.
Would you like it if Duran Duran covered one of your songs?
That would be incredible. I want to hang out with Simon Le Bon.
The Stars Are God’s Bullet Holes by John Murry is out now on Submarine
Cat Records. www.johnmurry.com
106 ISSUE 197
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 MUSIC REVIEW / CONTEMPORARY

record
reviews
How To Read Them
The information contained in the
record reviews is presented in the
following way. Albums are identified
by label and – where possible – serial
number. Beneath this you will find
120g CD
one or more icons that denote the
available formats for the recording.
The first icon refers to the format Black to the Future Kemet contributor and poet Joshua
reviewed. Sons of Kemet Idehen top and tailing the record as
The ratings at the bottom of Impulse! 3571130 he did so memorably on Your Queen
each review reflect the reviewer’s is a Reptile. This approach gives the
opinion of the recording quality, In Black to the Future, Sons of Kemet record a genuine air of storytelling,
and musical merits of the album. have crafted a powerful, raging and even the track titles are designed
You’ll soon realise that a great many political statement of a record. One to be read as a poem.
musically significant albums offer less that once again pushes London’s Another change is Hutchings’
than wonderful sound. Don’t let it fruitful jazz scene into the limelight. focus on woodwind rather than
put you off! For your information, the Although its jazz digs directly into saxophone. But, taken as a whole,
scale rates a standard, good quality the band’s African heritage, Black to Black to the Future is a raucous,
pop recording as slightly below the Future is also heavily dosed with mind-blowing collection of thought-
average. influences from the current worlds of provoking music. Yes, there are strong
Hip-Hop and Grime. messages – inspired by George
This issue’s featured reviewers are:
Black to the Future is Sons of Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives
DD – Dennis Davis Kemet’s fourth album, and the follow Matter movement – but the album
JMH – Jimmy Hughes up to 2018’s sensational Mercury itself sounds just as celebratory as it
SH – Sean Hannam Prize nominated Your Queen is a does righteously angry.
JK – Jason Kennedy Reptile. Now firmly established on Stand out tracks are plentiful, but
SM – Shaun Marin the legendary Jazz label Impulse!, the the lead single ‘Hustle’ warrants a
band’s first break came on the Naim special call out. Kojey Radical delivers
Jazz label, with their debut Burn, sublimely lyrical vocals and the track
CD CD 120g 120g LP albeit it with a different line-up that works both as a standalone statement
included Seb Rochford on drums. and as part of the flow of this highly
CD Gold CD 150g 150g LP Sons of Kemet today comprises engaging record. Elsewhere, ‘Let
band leader – and shining star of the Circle be Unbroken’ showcases
HD HDCD 180g 180g LP the UK Jazz revolution – Shabaka how Theon Cross’s highly articulate
Hutchings on woodwinds, Theon tuba performance drives the music
XR XRCD 200g 200g LP Cross on tuba, and the dual driving in a way normally associated with a
force of drummers Edward Wakili- dexterously played bass guitar or –
Double Hicks and Tom Skinner (who has also more usually in the world of UK Hip-
CD Disc 10" 10" LP
just taken up stick duties in Thom Hop and Grime – samples and synths.
Availability As York and Johnny Greenwood’s new Black to the Future is a truly
DVD DVD 1 S/H LP
band The Smile). expectational album. One of those
SACD
Vinyl Double One of the key developments on all-too-rare moments when a political
SA 120g Album
Black to the Future, is the addition statement and a musical masterclass
Hybrid of guest vocalists. The likes of Kojey combine to empower, inform, and
SA CD SACD
45RPM 45 RPM
Radical, Moor Mother, Angel Bat above all entertain. SM
5.1 Multi- Dawid and D Double E all take on
SA Download
Channel vocal, and lyric writing, duties at
RECORDING
High-Res some point over the double album.
BR Blu-ray MUSIC
Download It’s also great to have regular Sons of

111 ISSUE 197

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112 ISSUE 197


Journey To The Sun
Peter Bruntnell
(Domestico Records)
During lockdown, New Zealand-
born, UK-based Americana singer-
songwriter, Bruntnell, was holed-up
in his house in Devon, learning how
to play a newly-acquired bouzouki
and writing songs for his twelfth
studio album, Journey To The Sun,
which he recorded and self-produced
in his basement studio. His latest
record has much more of a sparse
and stripped-down feel than its full-
band predecessors – 2016’s Nos Da
Comrade, which had some heavy,
Neil Young-style riffing on it, and
2019’s sublime, King of Madrid, with
its jangly, Beatlesy guitar pop.
“I felt like I wanted to make
more of a solo record, which just
so happened to coincide with the
pandemic,” says Bruntnell. “That
would mean more acoustic guitar,
and I bought a bouzouki in March last
year, which really was a catalyst for
quite a few songs being written in a
very short timeframe. Oh, and I had
bought a drum machine and a new
synthesiser too.”
Yes – that’s right, Americana fans
– don’t choke on your pale ale, but
Journey To The Sun has vintage synth
sounds all over it.
It’s not Kraftwerk or Berlin-
era Bowie by any stretch of the
imagination, but some of the songs
have been fleshed-out with strange
electronic noises and textures, and
there are a couple of short and
spacey instrumentals, The Antwerp
MUSIC REVIEW / CONTEMPORARY
CD
Effect and Moon Committee, which
could be incidental music from a ‘70s
sci-fi TV show, or a film soundtrack.
“I’d been listening to Another
Green World by Brian Eno and had
been thinking about doing some more
electro-style stuff for a while now, so
it all just fell into place. And Bowie’s
Low has been one of my favourite
records for years,” says Bruntnell,
adding: “Apart from a bit of Eno, I’m
not sure what other influences directly
inspired the songs. Maybe some
Brian Wilson…”
Retro synths may have infiltrated
his sound, and buying the bouzouki
forced him to be more experimental
when composing this album, but, like
Wilson, Bruntnell has an extraordinary
gift for writing gorgeous, melodic
songs, that are laced with feelings of
longing, regret, nostalgia, loss and
melancholy.
Opener, the stunning, ‘Dandelion’,
is an atmospheric horror folk song
that sounds like English singer-
songwriter, Matt Deighton, or Pink
Moon-era Nick Drake being produced
by Eno; the lovely ‘Lucifer Morning
Star’ has warm, burbling synths and
chiming 12-string guitar, while ‘Heart
of Straw’ is classic Bruntnell – an
aching, acoustic, country-tinged
ballad – and first single, ‘You’d Make
A Great Widow’, is laced with his wry
and offbeat humour, but wrapped up
in one of the prettiest tunes you’re
likely to hear all year.
Bruntnell can be acerbic and
quietly devastating. On the chorus of
‘You’d Make A Great Widow’,
he tells his target, ‘You’ve got a mind
113 ISSUE 197
like a minnow, but you used to have
friends, until you let them down’.
There’s also a nod to his
troubadour heritage with a beautiful
version of the traditional folk song,
‘Wild Mountain Thyme’, which was
covered by Bob Dylan.
Some of the album was co-
written with Bruntnell’s long-time
collaborator, Bill Ritchie, while US
musician and mastering engineer,
Peter Linnane, laid down organ,
concertina, Mellotron and piano, and
Iain Sloan plays pedal steel guitar on
the widescreen Americana of ‘Dharma
Liar’, which clocks in at around eight
minutes.
“I sent the first song to Pete,
to ask him if the light compression
I had on the mix was okay for the
mastering job,” explains Bruntnell. “He
came back to me saying it was fine,
and he sent some pump organ and
concertina parts, in case I might like
to mix them in. I had a listen and liked
all his parts, so I kept them, and that
became the pattern for nearly every
song thereafter.”
Twelve albums into his career,
and, in normal times, one of the
most hardworking performers in the
UK, Bruntnell deserves much more
recognition for his music.
This probably won’t be the album
that takes him to a wider audience,
but if you’ve never heard him before,
it’s the perfect place to start your
journey. SH
RECORDING
MUSIC
 MUSIC REVIEW / AUDIOPHILE & JAZZ
Nilsson Schmilsson
Harry Nilsson
Mobile Fidelity MFSL 2-498
If there was a contest to identify
the label that released some of the
best music of the 1970s in truly
abysmal pressings, I would put my
money on RCA’s American pressing
plants. RCA’s UK operation had its
game together much better than
the Americans. A prime example
is Bowie’s Hunky Dory from 1971.
The original still sounds better by
far than anything reissued in the last
half century and puts its American
counterpart to shame.
Around the same time, Harry
Nilsson, an American singer-
songwriter, flew to London to record
most of the tracks on Nilsson
Schmilsson, his seventh and most
celebrated LP, but the master
tapes were then transported to The
Mastering Lab in Los Angeles, and
the first release (in the US) was on
thin Dynaflex vinyl better described
as ‘Dynawarp’ with sound quality to
match. Within a year, the album was
released in the UK with thicker vinyl,
but the sound quality remained thin.
Nilsson built his reputation as a
Los Angeles songwriter. His material
was recorded by The Monkees,
Three Dog Night (remember ‘One’ is
the loneliest number), The Yardbirds,
Glen Cambell and many others. He
eventually quit his bank day job and
started work in the studio recording
his own material, but never became
a household name in part because of
his refusal to perform publicly. He is
180g 45RPM
best remembered today as the singer
of the theme song from Midnight
Cowboy (a cover of Fred Neil’s
‘Everybody’s Talking’), and his hit
song ‘Without You’ from this album.
And, of course, his love of Brandy
Alexanders and drunken brawls in
the company of John Lennon during
Lennon’s “Lost Weekend” 18-month
separation from Yoko. Nilsson is at his
songwriting best in this 1971 classic
where he shows off his 3½ octave
range. Do not be fooled by the fuzzy
cover photo of Nilsson looking dreamy
in a bathrobe holding a hash pipe—he
is absolutely brilliant here. The album
opens with ‘Gotta Get Up’, a clever
double entendre before Nilsson’s lyrics
became less ambiguous. The jazz
standard ‘Early In The Morning’, one
of three songs not written by Nilsson
and one of two recorded in Los
Angeles, has him singing blues over
syncopated organ.’ The Moonbeam
Song’ is one of his most beautiful
compositions and his dreamy delivery
makes it a highlight of the album.
Nilsson’s cover of the Badfinger song
‘Without You’ allows him to show off
his full range, and was his biggest
hit, but it is ‘Coconut’, the Calypso
infused hit that I find most worthy of
repeat playing. However, the album
is strong throughout and there is no
letdown throughout its ten songs. This
is in large part thanks to the world
class group of players assembled
for the album. With Jim Gordon on
drums and Klaus Voormann, Chris
Spedding, Herbie Flower and John
Uribe on guitars and bass, Nilsson
had a group used to backing the
114 ISSUE 197
best. Filling in on some tunes were
Jim Price on trumpet and Bobby Keys
on saxophone, both taking time off
from their regular activity backing The
Rolling Stones. A couple handfuls of
other top players filled in the blanks.
Nilsson took on Richard Perry as a
producer resulting in an album more
polished, if less whimsical, than his
first six studio efforts.
Mobile Fidelity released a CD of
this album in 1990. This new 45 RPM
LP set, limited to 4,000 copies,
as well as 2,500 SACD units sold
out almost the moment they were
released. The word must have leaked
out about how good the sound is. The
thin sound of the original was likely
the result of pressing shortcomings,
as it was mastered by Doug Sax. The
sound here is significantly better than
any previous version in producing
dynamic scale, instrumental texture
and a three-dimensional soundstage.
Nilsson’s voice, and especially the
uniquely beautiful upper register,
were never captured better. The eight
songs recorded at Trident Studios are
especially impressive sounding, as
with other great Trident recordings like
Let It Bleed and Hunky Dory. If your
local record shop still has a copy in
hand, do not delay—one of the happy
results of the Pandemic for record
sales is that they have exploded,
requiring music lovers to keep on top
of release lists or risk being left behind
or paying scalpers prices. DD
RECORDING
MUSIC
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115 ISSUE 197

MUSIC REVIEW / AUDIOPHILE & JAZZ
Live! Breaking Ground:
August 3, 1977
Steve Miller Band
Sailor/Capitol/UMe
Steve Miller’s background pretty well
guaranteed he would be a musician,
that he became such a successful
one was due to his own drive and
ingenuity. Miller’s parents were friends
with Les Paul and Mary Ford and
introduced the former to the tape
recorder when they bought one of the
first ones to appear on the market.
And it was Les Paul who introduced
Miller junior to the electric guitar at a
formative age; so formative in fact that
by the time he was 12 he was earning
money by playing at dances.
He earned his dues playing in the
blues clubs of Chicago in the late 50s/
early 60s, supporting the legends of
the era and getting to know many of
the greats including Muddy Waters,
Howlin’ Wolf and Little Walter. Chicago
for Miller was a bit like Hamburg was
for the Beatles; playing long sets
every night really honed his chops. His
next move was to San Francisco in
the early days of the hippy era. When
the scene really kicked off, the bands
playing there became very interesting
to record companies looking for the
next big thing. As a result Miller (with
the help of a lawyer friend) was able
to secure an unusually good deal
with Capitol Records that gave him
broad artistic control. His first album
was Children of the Future in 1968,
a mixture of blues and psychedelic
styles produced by Glyn Johns and
co-written by Boz Scaggs. Later the
120g CD
same year saw Sailor released by the
same team which spawned the hit
‘Living in the USA’ but also hinted at a
more adventurous side in the opening
track ‘Song for our Ancestors’ with its
atmospheric foghorn intro.
Miller hit big in 70s with the
Joker, Fly Like an Eagle and Book of
Dreams, each of which sold in vast
numbers in the US, by the time of this
concert at the Cap Center in Maryland
he was riding high on the precarious
crest of success. The story behind
this release has Miller going through
old live recordings last year and
finding this one as a two-track tape,
he liked the performance but not the
sound. It took his wife to dig out a
multitrack recording of the event that
was good enough to release on all the
usual format as well as a full concert
video (available on Amazon Prime in
the US).
The 17 song set opens with the
excitement of a substantial audience
as Miller and Norton Buffalo deliver
a stonking blues harp duet before
the band kicks in with considerable
impact to deliver ‘Living in the USA’
in full effect. There is plenty of energy
in the recording but it could be more
open and less compressed, it does
have some depth but the sense of
scale is limited. You do, however, get
a lot of ambiance thanks to a wildly
enthusiastic crowd that responds to
every familiar tune with gusto. The
band is very tight too, there are no
well-known names among those
providing bass, drums, second guitar
and backing vocals but they are rock
solid, giving Miller plenty of leeway
116 ISSUE 197
to play what he feels. There is no
obvious improvisation, this is crowd
pleasing blues rock at heart, but the
track list is well paced with a mix of
driving and more relaxed tunes, most
of which can be found on the greatest
hits album from 1978.
The highlights include ‘Wild
Mountain Honey’, a folksy piece
about the pleasures available to those
who shun the rat race that features
strangely distorted guitar. Things really
pick up just past the half way point
where ‘Space Intro’ segues into ‘Fly
Like an Eagle’, a song about curing
social ills that features an extended
instrumental passage with cosmic
synth and guitar. It runs to over seven
minutes including at least a minute of
applause. Miller keeps them going for
‘Rock’n Me’ where a rawkus guitar
break is followed by the band and
the audience repeating the chorus
to powerful effect. The set ends with
finale piece ‘So Long Blues’, a pure
blues number that has few vocal lines
except for Miller saying goodbye to
DC and Baltimore with a promise to
be back again one day.
The songs here sound a lot better
on the original albums which makes
Live! Breaking Ground one for the
fans rather than newcomers, but it
captures Steve Miller and band at
the height of their powers and is the
only live album released by Capitol
Records. JK
RECORDING
MUSIC
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117 ISSUE 197

 MUSIC REVIEW / CLASSICAL
Arthur Grumiaux
The complete Philips recordings
Decca 485 1160
As one of the world’s greatest
violinists, Arthur Grumiaux (1921–
1986) had a flawless and lyrical
technique that was never flashy or
self-regarding, but always placed
entirely at the service of the music.
He recorded for Philips between 1953
and 1983, and this 74 disc set brings
together everything he did for the
Dutch label.
It was his 1956/7 performances
of Beethoven’s ten sonatas for
violin and piano (plus a selection of
Mozart’s violin sonatas) with legendary
Romanian pianist Clara Haskil, that
really established his reputation.
Today, they’re regarded as classic
recordings.
In addition, his 1961/62/64
recordings of Mozart’s violin concertos
with Colin Davis and the LSO set a
benchmark for elegance and vitality.
Two previously unissued 1964 Mozart
recordings are released here for the
first time, in addition to Grumiaux’
earlier mono set of Mozart concertos
from 1954/5.
Grumiaux was arguably even
more interested in chamber music.
The Grumiaux trio was formed in 1960
with George Janzer (viola) and Eva
Czako (cello). Philips had a knack for
making exceptionally-good recordings
of chamber music (in much the same
way Decca had a reputation for great
recordings of opera). The best Philips
discs have a sweet open naturalness
combined with clarity and detail.
CD ×74
Another benchmark recording
was the 1974 set of Mozart’s string
quintets. The performances are
glowing and beautifully-phrased, while
the Philips recording delivers sound
of exceptional richness and depth of
tone. This set of the Mozart quintets
is still the one to beat after nearly
50 years!
Grumiaux also made two
recordings of the Brahms concerto –
the first with van Beinum in 1958, and
a second with Colin Davis in 1972.
For LP collectors in the early ‘70s,
the version with Davis was the one to
own – for its great performance and
the best sound. I also always liked
Grumiaux’ 1976 performance of the
Tchaikovsky concerto, and found the
Philips recording exceptionally sweet
and open-sounding. It was preceded
by two earlier recordings, including
one with Haitink from 1960 – both
very rare on vinyl!
Throughout the 1960/70s Philips
released a steady stream of LPs
from Grumiaux, but after 1980 new
issues seemed to dry-up. However,
Grumiaux had begun to record the
Mozart violin sonatas with Walter
Klein. These would be his first and
only digital recordings. The sessions
were held between April 1981 and
September 1983, and 15 sonatas
were recorded. The last sonata
K547 was not included. The set was
released in 1985, a year or so before
Grumiaux’ sudden death from a
stroke in October 1986.
This new complete set comes
in a square box with 74 CDs in 38
sleeves. Some are singles, others are
118 ISSUE 197
doubles, triples, and even quadruples.
With the last two, removing discs from
the centre sections can be tricky. The
sleeves are black with grey lettering,
and the spines aren’t easy to read.
Unfortunately, the set is not
an ‘original jackets’ edition, but
the booklet does contain some LP
sleeve reproductions, plus numerous
B&W pictures of Grumiaux – many
previously unpublished.
The booklet usefully lists the
entire contents under composer,
but also has a chronological list of
all Arthur Grumiaux’ recordings with
original LP numbers and the dates for
each session. There’s even a little map
of the box, showing where specific
discs are located.
For this set, the original tapes
were remastered at Abbey Road
studios, and the recordings sound
very well for their age. Philips’
engineering was always good, and
their recordings stand comparison
with any of their rivals. Philips’ open
natural un-gimmicky sound suited
Arthur Grumiaux perfectly.
With Bach’s solo Sonatas and
Partitas, the new discs in this set
sounded slightly louder, richer and
more-spacious than my early ‘80s
Japanese CDs. The improvement was
very noticeable. And what an amazing
sound these classic recordings have!
You can hardly believe they were
made 60 years ago. JMH
RECORDING
MUSIC
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Auralic ................................................ 37
B Audio Sas ....................................... 79
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Dynaudio International GmbH ............ 43
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Gold Note ...........................................10
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Moor Amps ........................................ 93
Music First Audio .............................. 115
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119 ISSUE 197
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Neat Acoustics................................. 105
Network Acoustics ............................. 91
Oranges and Lemons ....................... 115
Oxford Audio Consultants Ltd ............ 95
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Russ Andrews Accessories ............. 100
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Siltech ................................................ 27
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The Chord Company ..........................17
The Funk Firm .................................... 85
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True Path Audio ........................95 & 115
Val Hi-Fi...................................... 95 & 96
WBT-Distribution GmbH .................. 100
Whole Note Distribution ..................... 99
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120 ISSUE 197

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